Guess you wouldn't be impressed with a fake dogtag then... :-)
Guess you wouldn't be impressed with a fake dogtag then... :-)
I hope JFK continues to rely on his supposed Vietnam record, and that it comes back to bite his bony rear.
"How fast you can do that and how rapidly others can embrace it and what can be expected over a period of time varies from place to place," Kerry told the Washington Post newspaper in an interview.
"Beware of the presidential candidate who just sort of says with a big paintbrush we're going to make everything all right overnight," the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is quoted as saying.
He said securing all nuclear materials in Russia, integrating China in the world economy, achieving greater controls over Pakistan's nuclear weapons or winning greater cooperation on terrorist financing in Saudi Arabia trumped human rights concerns in those nations, The Post reported.
"Sometimes we are dealt a set of cards that don't allow us do everything we want to do at once," he said.
The Massachusetts senator also rejected setting a date for the withdrawal of US soldiers from Iraq (news - web sites), according to the report.
Kerry said setting such a date "is not a good idea just in a vacuum" because the timetable for reducing US troops must be dictated by success in holding elections and establishing security and stability.
The candidate also accused the administration of President George W. Bush (news - web sites) of having an "Iraq-centric preoccupation" that has left little opportunity to deal with other pressing problems.
"Do you think they know where Latin America is? It is all part of the same problem," he said. "It is the distinction between what is cosmetic and what is real. In the 20 years that I have been here, I have learned to distinguish between the two. This stuff going on is mostly rhetoric."
Kerry also called the Bush administration's efforts to address North Korean nuclear ambitions through six-nation talks a "fig leaf" designed to cover up its failure to have a coherent policy. (AFP)
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Then there's this.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) on Tuesday outlined measures he contended would dramatically reduce the possibility that terrorists could attack the United States with nuclear weapons, which he called the greatest threat facing the nation.
"We need to employ a layered strategy to keep the worst weapons from falling into the worst hands," Kerry said in an appearance at the Port of Palm Beach in Riviera Beach, Fla.
Kerry called for building and leading a new era of alliances, modernizing the U.S. military, making full use of American diplomatic, intelligence and economic power, and freeing the nation from its dependence on Mideast oil.
"If we secure all bomb-making materials, ensure that no new materials are produced for nuclear weapons, and end nuclear weapons programs in hostile states like North Korea (news - web sites) and Iran, we will dramatically reduce the possibility of nuclear terrorism," he said.
Kerry said securing weapons and materials in the former Soviet Union would be a priority in relations between the United States and Russia, and he proposed working with U.S. allies to establish global standards for safekeeping nuclear materials. As president, Kerry said, he would also lead an international coalition seeking a global ban on production of material for new nuclear weapons.
To help reduce existing stocks of nuclear materials and weapons, the United States should stop developing a new generation of nuclear weapons and speed up reductions in the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals, Kerry said.
Ending nuclear weapons programs in Iran and North Korea also would be a priority, Kerry said, and he proposed closing the loophole in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that allows those countries and others to use civilian nuclear power programs as cover for weapons development.
Toughening export controls, stiffening penalties and strengthening law enforcement and intelligence sharing would help the United States prevent trafficking in bomb-making materials and components, Kerry said. He pledged to appoint a national coordinator to focus on securing nuclear weapons and materials around the world.
"We have to do everything we can to stop a nuclear weapon from ever reaching our shore — and that mission begins far away," Kerry said. "We have to secure nuclear weapons and materials around the world so that searching the containers here at the Port of Palm Beach isn't our only line of defense, it is our last line of defense."
Both Kerry and Bush are underscoring the importance of Florida in the electoral politics of 2004 with frequent visits to the state. Kerry is making his 17th visit to Florida since he began campaigning for the presidency. Bush has visited the state 21 times since he was elected.
Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt dismissed Kerry's plan as embracing objectives already laid out by the president. "His failure to accept the success of negotiations with Libya and his criticism of a multilateral approach to confront the threat from North Korea demonstrate that John Kerry can't help but play politics with national security," Schmidt said.
Ashton Carter, former assistant secretary of defense for international security policy in the Clinton administration, said Bush pursues nuclear supplies a bit at a time and country by country. Kerry would accelerate the process by getting rid of all supplies at once, Carter said in remarks on behalf of the Kerry campaign. [But, but didn't Effin' just say in the May 30th story: "Beware of the presidential candidate who just sort of says with a big paintbrush we're going to make everything all right overnight," the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee is quoted as saying. ]
Kerry is delivering a series of speeches on national security during an 11-day tour that ends Sunday, the 60th anniversary of the Allied invasion at Normandy, France, during World War II. AP
Things must be very tight on the new plane.
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., speaks to members of the media on his plane before attending the Portsmouth Memorial Day Parade in Portsmouth, Va., on Monday, May 31, 2004. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)