KERRY ON SADDAM, IN KERRY'S OWN WORDS

GULF 1 WEBSITE ^ | SEPTEMBER 13, 2003 | COLONEL ROBERT PAPPAS USMC (Ret)

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Kerry on Saddam, in Kerry’s own words by Col. Bob Pappas, USMC, Ret.

Given Kerry’s latter day allegations that President Bush lied about WMD as a pretext for preemptive removal of Saddam Hussein, the writer thought it is interesting to review his own remarks on the subject, so here goes:

“While we should always seek to take significant international actions on a multilateral rather than a unilateral basis whenever that is possible, it in the final analysis we face what we truly believe to be a grave threat to the well-being of our Nation or the entire world and it cannot be removed peacefully, we must have the courage to do what we believe is right and wise. I believe this is such a situation, Mr. President, it is a time for resolve.” Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record 110997

“So we have an obligation of enormous consequence, an obligation to guarantee that Saddam Hussein cannot ignore the United Nations. He cannot be permitted to go unobserved and unimpeded toward his horrific objective of amassing a stockpile of weapons of mass destruction… If he remains obdurate, I believe that the United Nations must take, and should authorize immediately, whatever steps are necessary to force him to relent—and that the United States should support and participate in those steps.” Sen. John Kerry Congressional Record 110997

"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions(including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs." - Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others Oct. 9, 1998

Kerry: “Saddam Hussein has used weapons of mass destruction against his own people, and there is some evidence of their efforts to try to secure these kinds of weapons and even test them. That’s why it is so vital that we get the global community to be part of this effort to begin to make their lives miserable…” CBS Face the Nation 092301

“I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force-- if necessary-- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security.” - Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002

Q&A Tony Snow: “Senator Kerry, should it be official US policy that we want to see Saddam Hussein removed from power, not necessarily assassinated, but removed from power?” Senator John Kerry: “I believe yes. I believe I’ve been arguing that for some time within the Intelligence Committee and elsewhere.” Fox News Sunday 111598

Kerry: “Oh, I think we clearly have to keep the pressure on terrorism globally. This doesn’t end with Afghanistan by any imagination. And I think the President has made that clear. I think we have made that clear. Terrorism is a global menace. It’s a scourge. And it is absolutely vital that we continue, for instance, Saddam Hussein.” CNN’s Larry King Live 121401

Kerry: “The Iraqi regime’s record over the decade leaves little doubt that Saddam Hussein wants to retain his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and to expand it to include nuclear weapons. We cannot allow him to prevail in that quest. The weapons are an unacceptable threat.” US Senate, Remarks of Sen. John Kerry on Iraq 100902

“Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real ...” Sen. John F. Kerry, Jan. 23. 2003

Sen. John Kerry: “I said at the time I would have preferred if we had given diplomacy a great opportunity, but I think it was the right decision to disarm Saddam Hussein, and when the President made the decision, I supported him, and I support the fact that we did disarm him.” ABC News, Democrat Presidential Candidate Debate, 050303

Now the Senator wants Americans to believe that the War on Terrorism in Iraq is the: “wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time.” 090604

Informed readers know that Kerry lied before the US Senate in 1971, and from the information above Kerry either lied to the American public about the need to remove Saddam Hussein beginning in 1997, or he is wrong about this being “the wrong war, in the wrong place at the wrong time;” or both. Try as the Democrats may, Kerry can’t have it both ways in a real world, but on second thought, who said they live in the real world?

Appeasement of Terrorists is not the answer, and the UN is not the answer; driving the terrorists out of business is the answer. Russia may have belatedly come to understand that, and maybe France, Germany, Spain and others will too; and when those corrupt governments finally “get it,” the UN may become a useful forum. Until then, the UN is so riddled with corruption that it is useless, and they might just as well go home.

The President may be wrong on some, if not many things, but he is not wrong in the War on Terror. All the carping by his “would be” replacement and his entire entourage of Fellow Travelers where certainly Constitutional, has the familiar ring of Kerry’s Vietnam Veterans against the War rhetoric.

The wise choice, to quote Zell Miller, is a man with a “spine of tempered steel,” one who can and will lead this nation in the direction of victory in the War on Terror, and that man is “GW” Bush.

This writer will “fight” with the President after he is reelected in areas where he is wrong, but in the meantime admonishes those who, wittingly or otherwise, would undermine the security of this nation for a “bowl of porridge” to wake up and smell the coffee.

Semper Fidelis

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What's his latest position on Iraq?