Kerry repositions himself on Iraq

Seattle PI.com ^ | June 18, 2006 | JOAN VENNOCHI

[bitt]

Why is it so hard to believe John Kerry?

The Massachusetts senator is finally taking the anti-war position that people who know him well expected him to embrace long ago. The position is welcome, if long overdue; unfortunately, it doesn't dispel doubts about the thinking that got him to this place.

Kerry now labels his 2002 vote to authorize the Iraq invasion a mistake and is calling for U.S. troop withdrawal by the end of the year. His position -- for now -- is as crisp today as it was meandering during the last presidential campaign.

Had he taken such a clear stand in 2004, he might be in the White House. Remember, George W. Bush's convictions on war and miscellaneous matters ended up as an advantage on Election Day. Kerry's penchant to finesse everything, especially war, helped create the flip-flopping caricature depicted in the Bush campaign ads.

As he moves toward a second presidential bid,Kerry continues to pay a price for the straddles, calculations and parsings of 2004. It's going to take time and a lot of plain talking to overcome the excruciating equivocations from his previous performance as presidential nominee.

Overcoming skepticism about Kerry's change of heart on Iraq will be especially challenging. For one thing,it tracks nicely with the general public's change of heart and coincides conveniently with the liberals' search for an anti-war champion. In addition, the anti-war fervor that Kerry displayed last week also coincides with an early poll from Iowa that puts John Edwards in first place with Democrats in that presidential caucus state.

The two former running mates now seem to be vying for the anti-war political left. Edwards, the former senator from North Carolina, flatly labeled his vote for war "a mistake" in a November 2005 opinion piece for The Washington Post.

[bitt]

LT ping

[elhombrelibre]

He was for the early withdrawal at the end of this year before he changed his mind and decided to not with draw for another year. He's a flake. He's all over the place.

[DakotaRed]

Odd quote I ran across this evening, especially for sKerry and other defeatocrats;

"Do we leave when the job gets tough or when the job is well done? Do we invite the return of mass suffering or do we leave in a way that gives them a decent chance to survive?"
And, "Our own credibility with friends and allies would be severely damaged," he said. "Our leadership in world affairs would be undermined at the very time when people are looking to America to help promote peace and freedom in the post-Cold War world. And all around the world, aggressors, thugs and terrorists will conclude that the best way to get us to change our policies is to kill our people. It would be open season on Americans."

Appeared in the LA Times, October 8, 1993, spoken by William Jefferson Clinton.

Too bad he didn't follow his own words and instead, cut and ran from Somalia (where the quote was directed)

[george76]

[pissant]

Kerry: Still the traitor he always was.

[Jorge]

I love seeing liberals driven to contortions in attempts to explain the flip-flopping idiocy of people like Kerry.

I hope they think they're going insane.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

" he was for early wiwthdrawal...."

Of course....anyone who has to do it with Tah-Ray-ZA
every nite would certainly be for " early withdrawal"!

I think someone just misquoted him as Kerry was talking about his wife....not Iraq.

[river rat]

Kerry's frequently changing "position" is due to the discomfort he feels sitting on the "penis" of public ridicule....


Semper Fi

[highlander_UW]

Kerry's penchant to finesse everything, especially war, helped create the flip-flopping caricature depicted in the Bush campaign ads.

What "caricature"? As this article states, Kerry has once again changed is view...that is flip flopping by any thinking person's definition.

[NCjim]

I've lost track - is this a flip or a flop?

[Billthedrill]

Does this count as a flip or as a flop? I've lost track by now. If only Kerry had gone to Vietnam he wouldn't be so indecisive today...

[Diana in Wisconsin]

"But the toughest question Kerry faces isn't about war; it's about credibility."

Gee. Ya THINK? The only thing Kerry "repositions" more often than his views are his tighty whities.

This loser got waaaaaaay too close to the Presidency for my taste. And don't even get me started on Algore...

[DocRock]

click the Image to watch the video

Transcript: (John Kerry on "Face the Nation" 9/15/02")

I would disagree with John McCain, that it's actual weapons of mass destruction that may be used against us, it's what he may do in another invasion of Kuwait or in a miscalculation about the Kurds or a miscalculation about Iran or particularly Israel. Those are the things that uh, I think present the greatest danger. He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups and invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It's the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat.

(John Kerry on "Hardball 9/17/02")

But the President, as I also wrote in that article, always reserves the right to act unilaterally to protect the interest of our country.

If you have the bandwidth, here is the LINK to the better, longer and larger video. This is a 3:35 long, 4 Mb .wmv Video.

If you want the entire video, it is over 12 minutes long and is good quality, so it is 24.7 Mb in .wmv format. Click HERE. This is good stuff.

[Paige]

OH bull! Kerry is finally showing what he really stood for in the first place.

[God luvs America]

bump

[prophetic]

the difference between a flip-flopper aspiring to be Commander In Chief and George W Bush could not be clearer.

Kerry is a extreme leftwing liberal, treasonous lying gigolo who has less backbone than a jellyfish (apologies to all jellyfish) and cannot stand up to any sort of critism of scrutiny without folding his position.

The Real Man sticks to his position with the moral fortitude of the rightness of his position and gets the job done.

I shudder to think how over 44 million people were deluded enough to want Kerry for a President!!!

[A_perfect_lady]

You forgot to add "again."

[AmericaUnited]

Overcoming skepticism about Kerry's change of heart on Iraq will be especially challenging. For one thing,it tracks nicely with the general public's change of heart and coincides conveniently with the liberals' search for an anti-war champion

This is goint to be tremendous fun when in the summer of 07, Iraq and the war is in very good shape and the public agrees. Kerry will then try to wiggle and readjust his position again.

[elhombrelibre]

I'd be against any deposit under those circumstances.