Posted on 03/08/2004 4:34:31 AM PST by BigWaveBetty
Edited on 03/08/2004 4:52:05 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Kerry 1997:The administration... don't believe that they even need the U.N. Security Council
During a 1997 debate on CNN's "Crossfire," Democratic presidential front-runner John Kerry made the case for launching a pre-emptive attack against Iraq, according to Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., who appeared with Kerry on the program.
King recounted the debate for WABC Radio's Monica Crowley on Saturday, recalling that at the time, the U.N. Security Council had just adopted a resolution against Iraq that had been watered down at the behest of the French and the Russians.
According to King, Kerry argued: "We know we can't count on the French. We know we can't count on the Russians. We know that Iraq is a danger to the United States and we reserve the right to take pre-emptive action whenever we feel it's in our national interest."
"Crossfire" transcripts from 1997 are no longer available, but King said he'd share a copy of the Kerry tape with Crowley, who said she looked forward to broadcasting it. Stay tuned. Link
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So far this post at a blog is all been able to find on these Kerry remarks:
In my earlier post today I commented about a news story from Newsmax which reported that in an 1997 episode of CNN's Crossfire John Kerry, who by the way served in Vietnam, advocated a pre-emptive strategy in dealing with Saddam. Now my frequent commentor and fellow blogger Jaws has fished the transcript from the bowels of LexisNexis and provided me with it, the relevant parts are as follows:
JOHN SUNUNU:...This whole process gave our allies an opportunity not only not to follow America's leadership, not only not to allow us to lead, but to tell us we'd better not do what the president is now saying he might do.
KERRY: Well, John, there's absolutely no statement that they (France, Russia) have made or that they will make that will prevent the United States of America and this president or any president from acting in what they believe are the best interests of our country.
SUNUNU: But isn't what he has seen is a loss of U.S. leadership and an erosion under an administration that has failed to lead?
KERRY: On the contrary. The administration is leading. The administration is making it clear that they don't believe that they even need the U.N. Security Council to sign off on a material breach because the finding of material breach was made by Mr. Butler. So furthermore, I think the United States has always reserved the right and will reserve the right to act in its best interests.
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Now the words aren't exactly the same as reported in the earlier story but there's no doubt Kerry, in 1997, thought that a resolution from the UNSC was not needed because proof of Saddam being in material breach had been found. Further more he then believed a president doesn't need to worry about the concerns of other countries when the "best interests of our country" are at stake. hmmmm...now between '97 and 2004 what has changed?...hmmmm, it brings his world renown perchant for flip floppage to a whole new level. Link
Good work on fixing the eye doc's vision!
Hey, wouldn't that make you an ophthamalogist of the intellect?
How does one say "Rat" in French?
I was going to say that "rat" in French was "Chirac," but my dictionary says the word is .... "rat." Quelle surprise!
Gotta run, see yins later.
But here's a horrifying thought---another way they could "cheaply" achieve their goals, given the media's desire to cripple the president. Suppose in late Oct a "sleeper" tried, but failed, to assasinate Kerry on live TV. Suppose he was never intended to succeed, but was meant to fail, be caught and arrested. Through his lawyer he would issue pre-prepared statements that the terrorists feared Kerry and how easy it was for him to sidestep the administration's anti-terror efforts.
Just imagine the glorious, sympathetic press Kerry would get. And GWB would be put on the defensive to explain how the guy got into the U.S., or how he had lived here for X years and not been detected...etc.
It should go without saying, I AM NOT ADVOCATING THREATENING KERRY, merely trying to think like the evildoers. There are more ways than one to influence an election, especially if one has a compliant media.
Hillary is hoping to be on the ticket; she used the occasion of this "great honor" to bash Bush yesterday. (Wonder why Caroline did not give her this award?)
U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (news - web sites) (D-NY) looks at her John F. Kennedy Library Distinguished American Award, a bust of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, as it is presented to her by Kennedy Library Foundation CEO John Shattuck in Boston, March 14, 2004. Senator Clinton used the occasion to criticize the Bush administration. REUTERS/Jim Bourg
U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., left, speaks before departing Miami with a delegation of American and Jamaican officials Saturday, March 13, 2004 to bring ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from his exile in Africa to be reunited with his family in Jamaica. Second from left, Randall Robinson, ex-president of TransAfrica, Sharon Hay-Webster, a representative of the Caribbean Community and Waters husband former U.S. Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahammas, Sidney Williams. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
BARF ALERT:
What's the skinny on Bill Clinton? When he was President, back in the last century, Clinton was notorious for his gigantic appetites - whether for chocolate-chip cookies or other ill-advised indulgences - and he tended toward the chunky.
But these days - as with his recent appearance at a program for youth in the Bronx - Clinton looks as sleek and sporty as a Porsche convertible. "I've been working out four times a week with a German," [Claudia Schiffer? Heidi Klum?] the former chief executive revealed recently to a gaggle of reporters, including the Daily News' very fit Derek Rose, during a chat at his Harlem office.
"I haven't been this weight since I was the governor of Arkansas," Clinton added, crediting the South Beach Diet. "What you do is you basically start off hard-core - high protein, no carbohydrates - then you go back to carbohydrates. I like it. It's the best thing ever."
Better than the Atkins diet, Clinton said. "I went on it, I lost 15 pounds, and I gained the weight back."
Clinton is 57, the perfect age for a midlife crisis. "You're in your 50s and what's ahead of you is growing older and dying," said male aging expert Terrence Real, author of "How Can I Get Through to You: Closing the Intimacy Gap Between Men and Women."
The 53-year-old Real continued: "Guys hit a certain age and they developmentally get into a place where the bulk of their achievement is behind them and they are facing something different, and it freaks them out! And so a lot of men will react by doing things to help themselves feel vital and not over the hill. You can do it in a destructive way - you can get a red two-seater sports car and a mistress. Or you can go to the gym and take off some weight and get healthy. I can say this about President Clinton: It's nice that he's a good role model." [Besides, the mistress thing was so 'been there, done that']
Clinton's spokesman, Jim Kennedy, told Lowdown: "As President, he reduced the size of government. Now he's reduced the size of himself." NY Daily News
Many brides have trouble getting used to their beau's former girlfriends. Star Jones may have an even trickier dilemma: Dealing with those who say they're her fiancé's old boyfriends. Ever since Wall Street banker Al Reynolds proposed to "The View" host on Feb. 15 during the NBA All-Star Game, there have been whispers that her betrothed used to play on the other team. At least part of the time .... rest of story
Nipplegate hasn't chastened Janet Jackson a bit. On her upcoming album, "Damita Jo," Jackson sings about female ecstasy in the song "Moist." She explains: "I'm equating the lyrical grace of gentle water with the phenomenal sensation of physical release," Jackson says in the April Upscale magazine. "I want to praise that sensation, celebrate the feeling, and recreate the ecstasy that comes with a total mind-blowing, body-shaking orgasm." Oh.
I've actually been mulling a short-term move to Floriduh in November. Pensacola is less than an hour away from here. I may move over there, register, vote and then...voila!...become disenchanted and move back! (I'm not kidding...)
nor should you be. Need company?
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