Friday, September 24, 2004
Kerry on Iraq
You know, I was watching The O'Reilly Factor last night - and Bill played an interview he had with John Kerry from late 2001. The topic was Iraq. (No link or transcript available.)
I don't care what he says now and I don't care if he is who I am voting for in November. John Kerry was not talking as if he was a person against the war. HE was talking about weapons of mass destruction. HE was talking about a possible link between Iraq and September 11th. Of course he noted that he did not have solid evidence for this link: but that's exactly what Bush has done for three years and it's exactly why significant portions of this country still believe that there was some link.
There actually was a strong case to be made for invading Iraq. George Bush made it: sometimes dishonestly, but he made a legitimate case nevertheless. What we didn't have by our Democratic leaders was any effort to present the case against invading Iraq. We didn't have a respectable anti-war movement. Democratic leaders like John Kerry simply didn't present the case - nor did Goldberg and Guthrie. (Of course, we didn't exist at the time.)
This was a mistake on numerous levels. It was a political mistake: John Kerry simply cannot run against Bush's greatest vulnerability - this war. It was a strategic mistake: the same mistake that Bush made when he analyzed the intelligence out of Iraq.
Most importantly, it was a moral failure. American men and women are dying - due to the mistakes that Bush and Kerry made. Bush of course bears primary responsibility; but the lack of an important anti-war movement made disaster inevitable. John Kerry was a Democratic leader. He had voted against the first Gulf War, and had courageously fought against the Vietnam War. He did not fight against this war. Who will be the last American to die for that mistake?
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I don't care what he says now and I don't care if he is who I am voting for in November. John Kerry was not talking as if he was a person against the war. HE was talking about weapons of mass destruction. HE was talking about a possible link between Iraq and September 11th. Of course he noted that he did not have solid evidence for this link: but that's exactly what Bush has done for three years and it's exactly why significant portions of this country still believe that there was some link.
There actually was a strong case to be made for invading Iraq. George Bush made it: sometimes dishonestly, but he made a legitimate case nevertheless. What we didn't have by our Democratic leaders was any effort to present the case against invading Iraq. We didn't have a respectable anti-war movement. Democratic leaders like John Kerry simply didn't present the case - nor did Goldberg and Guthrie. (Of course, we didn't exist at the time.)
This was a mistake on numerous levels. It was a political mistake: John Kerry simply cannot run against Bush's greatest vulnerability - this war. It was a strategic mistake: the same mistake that Bush made when he analyzed the intelligence out of Iraq.
Most importantly, it was a moral failure. American men and women are dying - due to the mistakes that Bush and Kerry made. Bush of course bears primary responsibility; but the lack of an important anti-war movement made disaster inevitable. John Kerry was a Democratic leader. He had voted against the first Gulf War, and had courageously fought against the Vietnam War. He did not fight against this war. Who will be the last American to die for that mistake?
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