Kerry won't elaborate on missed deal ( on eve of war France, Russia were gonna compromise with U.S.)

Boston Globe ^ | 10/22/03

[areafiftyone]

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Senator John F. Kerry declined to provide specifics yesterday about his televised comment Monday night that French and Russian officials at the United Nations were poised to compromise with the Bush administration on the eve of the Iraq war.

[terilyn]

Don't forget Rand Beers. A long time State Department employee who most recently worked as President Bush's Chief Counterterrorism Expert. Beers resigned in March of 2003 as the Iraq war was starting and a few weeks later took a job as John Kerry's National Security Advisor for his campaign.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/07/10/column.novak.opinion.enemy/

[snip]

Resignation of a senior national security aide on policy grounds followed by defection to the political opposition is unprecedented. The selection last August of Beers to replace resigned veteran terrorism expert Dick Clarke raised eyebrows on Capitol Hill. Career foreign service officer Beers repeatedly tangled with House Republicans over how to fight narcoterrorists in Colombia.

Beers, a registered Democrat, vigorously promoted President Clinton's cautious line on Colombian policy as his assistant secretary of state for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. He owed Clinton for saving his career in 1997, when White House aides wanted to sack him as a National Security Council staffer for failing to give the president FBI reports about illegal campaign contributions from China. Beers holding a highly sensitive post in a Republican administration was an accident bound to happen.

[snip]

Hmmmm...I wonder if Beers would have known who Valerie Plame Wilson worked for....

[marron]

My memory is that the French and Russians were scrambling to put together some kind of compromise that would keep us out of Iraq.

No kidding.

But any compromise that leaves Saddam in place would be good for French and Russian oil interests, and very bad for the US and for the Iraqi people themselves. There was no reason at all that we should accept such a deal at the 11th hour. Saddam and the French are famous for not keeping their word on anything, their hope was to delay us until we lost interest or some other crisis could distract us. So I am glad kept our eye on the ball, I'm glad we stiffed the French, and I am glad that Saddam is gone. And I am glad that the French lost their investments in Iraq. I'm glad the torture chambers are empty for now. And I am glad Saddam is living in a hole in the ground somewhere.

[Darksheare]

Their idea of compromise is complete and utter capitulation to their point of view.
That's why they were rebuffed.

[rogue yam]

For weeks, Kerry has been seeking to clarify his position on the war in Iraq...

This is a really funny turn of phrase.

[arasina]

I think it would behoove people to remember that Benedict Arnold also served in his country's military.

Great point. Sounds like a good basis for signs used in a possible future FReeping of Ketchup Boy.

People like Kerry and Clark want it both ways.

Kerry wants people to respect his military service in Vietnam but ignore the fact that he, like William Jefferson Clinton, loathes the military and tossed "his" medals. (So this is supposed to make us trust you to lead in the War on Terror if elected, John French Kerry?)

Clark is a similar Pushme-Pullme character. He has spent entire adult life climbing the ladder of the military and yet he claims he would have voted against going to war with Iraq. He believes people are foolish enough to respect the outer jacket without looking at the mushy core inside.

Both men are oxymorons and hypocrites.

I just thought of this when I was typing Kerry's name. Did you know that Howard B. Dean's middle name is BRUSH? I wonder if his parents shortened it from Toiletbrush?