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Why did Kerry vote "No" on the First Gulf War

Posted on 10/08/2004 1:24:24 PM PDT by Bloggerhead

Question


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KEYWORDS: gulfwar; iraq; kerry
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Does anyone have any quotes from Kerry on his '91 "no" vote for the Gulf War? Why did he oppose it then?
1 posted on 10/08/2004 1:24:24 PM PDT by Bloggerhead
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To: Bloggerhead

The question should be "Senator Kerry, you have repeated stated that you admired the way President Bush built a coalition to liberate Kuwait in 1991, yet you object to the way his son put together a coalition to liberate Iraq in 2003. Yet you voted against the first Gulf war and for the second. Why did you vote against the first Gulf war when even the French committed troops?"


2 posted on 10/08/2004 1:26:48 PM PDT by You Dirty Rats (WE WILL WIN WITH W - Isara)
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To: Bloggerhead

This is from a Cheney speech:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/03/20040317-3.html

"Senator Kerry's voting record on national security raises some important questions all by itself. Let's begin with the matter of how Iraq and Saddam Hussein should have been dealt with. Senator Kerry was in the minority of senators who voted against the Persian Gulf War in 1991. At the time, he expressed the view that our international coalition consisted of " shadow battlefield allies who barely carry a burden."


3 posted on 10/08/2004 1:27:27 PM PDT by finnman69 (cum puella incedit minore medio corpore sub quo manifestus globus, inflammare animos)
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To: Bloggerhead

1) He was looking for attention.
2) He had nothing better to do.
3) Ted Kennedy told him so.
4) He wanted to be able to say that he voted against the war before he voted for it.
5) Because he is flamming liberal dove.
6) All of the above.


4 posted on 10/08/2004 1:27:38 PM PDT by Heff ("Liberty is not America's gift to the world, it's the Almighty's gift to humanity" GW Bush 4/12/04)
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To: Bloggerhead

Why did he consistently vote to downsize the American intelligence community and cut its funding to shreds and what gives him the right as a result to criticize U.S. intelligence that wasn't up to snuff leading to the Iraq War?


5 posted on 10/08/2004 1:28:41 PM PDT by Fruitbat
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To: Heff

#6 ?

Do I win, do I win???? What's my prize and where do I pick it up?


6 posted on 10/08/2004 1:29:43 PM PDT by jennyjenny
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To: Bloggerhead

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4741992/

Opposing 1991 Gulf War
He joined most Senate Democrats in voting against use of U.S. military forces in 1991 after Saddam Hussein’s army invaded Kuwait. Kerry preferred relying on an economic embargo against Iraq to put pressure on Saddam to pull his troops out of Kuwait.

“We think we can get it over with an acceptable level of casualties,” Kerry said during the 1991 Senate debate. “We seem willing to act ... with more bravado than patience.”

Kerry called it a “war for pride, not for vital interests” and said that “our impatience with (economic) sanctions and diplomacy does not yet warrant that horror." He also complained that "there is a rush to war here."


7 posted on 10/08/2004 1:29:46 PM PDT by Republican Red (A Global Freak'n Test ???????)
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To: Bloggerhead

found this at that rat hole Daily Kos where they love this speech:

AUTHORIZING USE OF U.S. ARMED FORCES PURSUANT TO U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION (Senate - January 12, 1991)




Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I do not believe our Nation is prepared for war. But I am absolutely convinced our Nation does not believe that war is necessary. Nevertheless, this body may vote momentarily to permit it.

When I returned from Vietnam, I wrote then I was willing personally, in the future, to fight and possibly die for my country. But I said then it must be when the Nation as a whole has decided that there is a real threat and that the Nation as a whole has decided that we all must go.

I do not believe this test has been met. There is no consensus in America for war and, therefore, the Congress should not vote to authorize war.

If we go to war in the next few days, it will not be because our immediate vital interests are so threatened and we have no other choice. It is not because of nuclear, chemical, biological weapons when, after all, Saddam Hussein had all those abilities or was working toward them for years--even while we armed him and refused to hold him accountable for using some of them. It will be because we set an artificial deadline. As we know, those who have been in war, there is no artificial wound, no artificial consequence of war.

Most important, we must balance that against the fact that we have an alternative, an alternative that would allow us to kick Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait, an accomplishment that we all want to achieve.

I still believe that notwithstanding the outcome of this vote, we can have a peaceful resolution. I think it most likely. If we do, for a long time, people will argue in America

about whether this vote made it possible.

Many of us will always remain convinced that a similar result could have come about without such a high-risk high-stakes throw away of our constitutional power.

If not, if we do go to war, for years people will ask why Congress gave in. They will ask why there was such a rush to so much death and destruction when it did not have to happen.

It does not have to happen if we do our job.

So I ask my colleagues if we are really once again so willing to have our young and our innocent bear the price of our impatience.

I personally believe, and I have heard countless of my colleagues say, that they think the President made a mistake to unilaterally increase troops, set a date and make war so probable. I ask my colleagues if we are once again so willing to risk people dying from a mistake.


8 posted on 10/08/2004 1:29:54 PM PDT by finnman69 (cum puella incedit minore medio corpore sub quo manifestus globus, inflammare animos)
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To: You Dirty Rats
Excellent question for the Massachusetts Liberal, Anti-War, Commander-In-Chief wannabe!
9 posted on 10/08/2004 1:30:16 PM PDT by TexasCajun
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To: Bloggerhead

In the mind of sKerry and those of his ilk, the only "allies" worth having are those that we don't have.

It's kind of like the kid in school that ignores and mistreats the only real friends he does have while kissing the a$$es of the "popular" kids that treat him like dirt.


10 posted on 10/08/2004 1:30:51 PM PDT by Kylie_04
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To: Fruitbat

I just don't understand why his '91 "no" vote has not been hammered home more! I know he has since praised the first War as a "real coalition" but I haven't been able to find much on his actual comments or explanation as to why he wouldn't support it.


11 posted on 10/08/2004 1:31:16 PM PDT by Bloggerhead
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To: finnman69

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A22260-2004Feb7?language=printer

Before and after last year's war on Iraq, Kerry criticized the president for failing to assemble the kind of coalition Bush's father put together in 1991. But in his 1991 floor statement, Kerry was dismissive of the elder Bush's coalition. That effort, he said, lacked "a true United Nations collective security effort," and he was critical of the then-president for trading favors for China's support and cozying up to Syria, despite its human rights record.

"I regret that I do not see a new world order in the United States going to war with shadow battlefield allies who barely carry a burden," he said then. "It is too much like the many flags policy of the old order in Vietnam, where other countries were used to try to mask the unilateral reality. I see international cooperation; yes, I see acquiescence to our position; I see bizarre new bedfellows and alliances, but I question if it adds up to a new world order."

The language raises the question of what kind of international coalition meets Kerry's standards. Cutter said that, in 1991, Kerry was concerned that the United States would bear a disproportionate burden of the casualties, despite the coalition assembled, and preferred to give Hussein "a little more time" to withdraw before launching the war.


12 posted on 10/08/2004 1:34:06 PM PDT by finnman69 (cum puella incedit minore medio corpore sub quo manifestus globus, inflammare animos)
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To: Bloggerhead

Not only did he vote against the first Gulf War, he called the coalition "a fraud."


13 posted on 10/08/2004 1:35:56 PM PDT by Phantom Lord (Advantages are taken, not handed out)
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To: finnman69

Man, that sounds familiar.


14 posted on 10/08/2004 1:36:12 PM PDT by madison46 (Give IRAN nuke fuel?? Your nutz)
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To: jennyjenny; All

Congratulations!!!!!!!

You are the lucky winner and are entitled to the top prize. You and 10 lucky friends will be registered to vote in 30 of your neighboring communities, then on Novemeber 2nd, you and your 10 friends will be taken to those towns in the official John Kerry Liberal Limo to cast your votes.

You will also receive an autographed copy of Teresa Lepore's book "How I tried to steal the election for Al Gore - A Democrat Election Supervisor's view".

Congrats again!!!


15 posted on 10/08/2004 1:40:51 PM PDT by Heff ("Liberty is not America's gift to the world, it's the Almighty's gift to humanity" GW Bush 4/12/04)
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To: madison46

Bush really needs to pound this home tonight. It should definately be brought up with regard to his flip flopping and the fact that Kerry just cannot be trusted to do the right thing without complete U.N. approval. Good God! He is even regurgitating some of the same things he said in '91! And yet his supporters STILL don't care!!!


16 posted on 10/08/2004 1:42:12 PM PDT by Bloggerhead
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To: Bloggerhead

This is exactly why voters need to be informed ... Kerry's flip-flops on major issues will sell the US out to the terrorists... I think people need reminders of whats at stake...


17 posted on 10/08/2004 1:42:47 PM PDT by tomnbeverly (Global Tests in the defense of our Country are not supported by the CONSTITUTION.)
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To: Bloggerhead

He sent two letters to his supporters in 1991, one opposing the war, and one supporting the war. The New Republic wrote about this. If you do a search, you should be able to find it.


18 posted on 10/08/2004 1:43:54 PM PDT by Cableguy
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To: Heff

Well, all that sounds OK, but I was hoping we could storm some republican campaign offices and shoot out some windows.


19 posted on 10/08/2004 1:45:06 PM PDT by jennyjenny
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To: Bloggerhead
Also, a constitutent contacted Kerry's office about the impending first Gulf War. John Kerry sent the man a letter expressing his opposition to the war. But, in true Kerry fashion, a couple days later another letter showed up in the mans mail from John Kerry. This letter was in full support of the war!

If anyone can hunt these down please post them here and ping me.

20 posted on 10/08/2004 1:45:22 PM PDT by Phantom Lord (Advantages are taken, not handed out)
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