John Kerry goes to the Middle East.

[Mass]

After two days of nonsense by the Boston Globe and its alumni, we are back to real news.

The news: Kerry is going to the Middle East for nine days (no down time for him, for sure), starting Wednesday, to talk with various heads of state about Iraq and terrorism.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/12/12/kerry_prepares_for_middle_east_tour/?p1=MEWell_Pos4

Kerry prepares for Middle East tour

By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | December 12, 2006

Senator John F. Kerry plans to leave Wednesday for a nine-day trip through Iraq and five other Middle Eastern nations, as he seeks to hone a regional approach to ending the Iraq war while entering the final stage of his deliberations about another run for president.


Kerry said he hopes to use the regional trip, his first there in nearly year, to meet with political leaders and US troops in Iraq about solutions to the Iraq conflict. His meetings will include a session with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, a country that the Iraq Study Group recommended should be included in direct talks about the future of Iraq.

"The Mideast policy as a whole is in tatters, and the situation is getting more dangerous, and there is a lot that's at play," said Kerry, a Massachusetts Democrat. "This is the most compelling and important issue on the table today: the war on terror, how it would more properly be fought."

In addition to Iraq and Syria, Kerry will visit Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Israel, and he will meet with the head of state in all of those countries. He said he plans to venture outside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad to talk to US troops stationed in more volatile parts of the country, including the Sunni Triangle.

...

Kerry said he wanted to meet with the National Guard soldiers who mocked his blunder by holding a banner: "Halp us Jon Carry _ we R stuck hear N Irak." When he saw the banner in a widely circulated photograph, Kerry said, he laughed, adding that he'd have done "the same thing" if he were in their shoes. But he said he won't make that part of this trip because he is interested in "business, not politics."

Nice article, by contrast with the nonsense the same Rick Klein wrote about Kerry and Kennedy just yesterday, and the article Leahy wrote today in the New York Times.

[kerrygoddess]

1. Interesting...

Good to see he is going to the Mid East again.

[Island Blue]

2. Godspeed Senator Kerry.

I hope he's able to accomplish a lot. Goodness knows the White House is incapable of doing so.

[LittleClarkie]

3. I'm posting this out in the real world

In a mo.

[wisteria]

4. He is venturing outside the Green Zone an incredibly dangerous undertaking.

I can understand why he feels the need to take this trip, but I am very concerned about his safety. What a brave and courageous man he is. I will be praying for positive results to happen and for his very safe return.

[fedupinBushcountry]

5. I just posted this on the JK blog

you might want to go over there and share your thoughts.

[wisteria]

6. Thanks. n/t

[babylonsister]

7. I'm glad he's going, but I hope he stays safe. It's a

bloody jungle out there; I'm frightened for him.

All the more reason I'm so happy to hear his birthday was such a success.

[BlueIris]

8. Again, all best, Senator K. And you be careful, Sir.

Iris understands you will simply do what you must, but she doesn't love this idea.

[Mass]

9. Chris Dodd will be with him.

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-dodd-mideast-1212,0,5040643.story?coll=hc-headlines-home

[JI7]

11. seems like a foreign relations committee thing

Obama should join them.

[wisteria]

13. He is to busy being a "rock star" .

I know it's snarky, but I couldn't help myself.

[Democrafty]

10. Just filed at the NYT:

''I've talked to plenty of guys who've come back from Iraq, who are there now, who understand exactly what happened,'' Kerry said of his joke in a telephone interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. ''They laugh at it.''

More: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Kerry-Iraq.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[babylonsister]

12. That damn joke rears its ugly head again.

Get over it! :grr:
Thanks for the link, Democrafty.

[wisteria]

14. At least it is being framed as a misspoken joke and not an insult.

This may be the best we can hope for on "pronowngate".