Let there be no doubt or confusion about where we stand on this.
I will support a multilateral effort to disarm him by force, if we ever exhaust those other options, as the President has promised, but I will not support a unilateral U.S. war against Iraq unless that threat is imminent and the multilateral effort has not proven possible under any circumstances.
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgiAnd the truth is that George Bush has made America weaker by overextending the armed forces of the United States, overstraining, overstraining our reserves, driving away our allies and running
the most arrogant, reckless, inept and ideological foreign policy in the modern history of our country. http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0402/03/se.13.htmlIf the president would move in this direction, if he would bring in more help from other countries to provide resources and to train the Iraqis to provide their own security and to develop a reconstruction plan that brings real benefits to the Iraqi people, and take the steps necessary to hold elections next year,
if all of that happened, we could begin to withdraw U.S. forces starting next summer and realistically aim to bring our troops home within the next four years. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A35515-2004Sep20?language=printerKERRY: This president has made, I regret to say, a colossal error of judgment. And judgment is what we look for in the president of the United States of America.
He also promised America that he would go to war as a last resort.
Those words mean something to me, as somebody who has been in combat. Last resort. You've got to be able to look in the eyes of families and say to those parents, I tried to do everything in my power to prevent the loss of your son and daughter. http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040930/NEWS09/40930003I will make a flat statement: The United States of America has no long-term designs on staying in Iraq. KERRY: And our goal in my administration
would be to get all of the troops out of there with a minimal amount you need for training and logistics as we do in some other countries in the world after a war to be able to sustain the peace.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/30/politics/main646640.shtml And
Iraq is not even the center of the focus of the war on terror. The center is Afghanistan, where, incidentally, there were more Americans killed last year than the year before; where the opium production is 75 percent of the world's opium production; where 40 to 60 percent of the economy of Afghanistan is based on opium; where the elections have been postponed three times.
KERRY: The president moved the troops, so he's got 10 times the number of troops in Iraq than he has in Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden is. Does that mean that Saddam Hussein was 10 times more important than Osama bin Laden -- than, excuse me, Saddam Hussein more important than Osama bin Laden? I don't think so.
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040930/NEWS09/40930003“Getting it right also means drawing up a detailed plan with the clear milestone of transfer of military and police responsibilities to Iraqis after the December elections. The Administration’s plan should take into account both political and security objectives, including Iraqi force structure, and be specifically tied to a defined series of tasks and accomplishments.
This plan must be more than dates and numbers - it must make clear to the Iraqi government that American patience is limited. http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/cfm/record.cfm?id=239696& The president must also announce immediately that the United States will not have a permanent military presence in Iraq. Erasing suspicions that the occupation is indefinite is critical to eroding support for the insurgency.
He should also say that the United States will insist that the Iraqis establish a truly inclusive political process and meet the deadlines for finishing the Constitution and holding elections in December. We're doing our part: our huge military presence stands between the Iraqi people and chaos, and our special forces protect Iraqi leaders.
The Iraqis must now do theirs.http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/headlines/pdf/kerry_6_28_05_New_York_times.pdf No RW talking points! A person responds to questions, and it's easy to take statements out of context, but what a person believes and does is more important. People like McCain, Hagel, Bush and the rest of the Repubs prove that.
Senator Kerry has been one of the most forceful critics of the invasion. He is one of less than a handful of elected officials who have never let up, and he has been at it longer than most! Senator Kerry's deadline is the primary reason withdrawal is being discussed with seriousness today!
There are a few great leaders in the Democratic Party. Scrutinize the actions of others and compare, Senator Kerry is the real deal, period!
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