Statement from (Socialist) John Kerry on One Year Anniversary of Invasion of Iraq

“Today marks the one year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. It is an important day to recognize the courage and enormous skill of the United States military. Our men and women in uniform are the best and the brightest the nation has to offer, and their efforts to defend Democracy should be honored each and every day. We also must remember those that have given their lives in the fight for freedom.

“Before the war started, I repeatedly called on the President to build a genuine coalition to reduce the military and financial burden on the United States, to go to war only as a last resort, and to have a plan to win the peace. I voted to give him the authority to go to war only when he promised me and other members in Congress that he would do these things. He broke those promises.

“He misled the American people in his own State of the Union Address about Saddam’s nuclear program and WMD’s, and refused – and continues to refuse – to level with the American people about the cost of the war. Simply put, this President didn't tell the truth about the war for the beginning. And our country is paying the price.

“It's time for George Bush to start being consistent on Iraq. It's time for him to finally find the right policy for Iraq. It's time to take the target's off the backs of U.S. soldiers, reduce the burden on America’s taxpayers, and finish the job in Iraq.”

TRANSLATION:

“Today marks the one year anniversary of the decision to use Iraq as a political ploy in my run for the White House. It is an important day to recognize the courage and enormous skill of my advisors from the People's Republics of Massachusetts, of Berkely, and of Oregon. Our men and women in uniform are the best and the brightest the nation has to offer, but it will be necessary for me to undercut their sacrifice for political gain. We also must remember their votes must be culled from the counted votes come election day.

“Before the war started, I repeatedly called on the President to bow to the will of Kofi Annan, the goat-humping Secretary General of the U.N, to ask the U.N. to again threaten Iraq while remaining a toothless tiger, and to have a plan to lose at the greater cost of American lives. I swear I didn't know about the UN, France, Germany, and a host of other allies who were participating is a massive Oil for Food Scam that was lining their pockets and could well be the cause so many nations opposed our actions. I voted to give him the authority to go to war only to discover that was his intention. Then I tried to cut funding for those troops.

“In his own State of the Union Address, he spoke about Saddam’s nuclear program and WMD’s, the same weapons system I demanded day-after-day that he remove from Saddam's hands. He has refused – and continues to refuse – to surrender to Iraq, reinstate Hussein, and beg forgiveness.

Simply put, I cannot afford to tell the truth about the war.

“It's time for George Bush to stop telling people about my waffling record of votes in the Senate, a seat that I spent a lot of money to buy. It's time to take the target off my back. It's time to tax the American people yet again.”

Reply to Mr. Kerry:

1. We did build a coalition with those countries whose political and economic interests were aligned with ours. Germany, France and Russia chose not to join that coalition because the leaders of those countries believed that their political and economic interests would be best served by the continued existence of the Hussein regime. Those interests included: limiting the power of the United States to act in its own perceived best interest in foreign affairs, arms sales, oil development programs, and participation in the corrupt oil for food program.

2. The military and financial burden of the United States has been reduced. The combined British and other foreign troop participation in the venture is not insubstantial. Siginificant foreign economic assistance was obtained at the Madrid conference, and James Baker negotiated very large debt forgiveness packages with, among others, the Germans and the French.

3. How long were we to maintian our forces in Kuwait and elsewhere in the Gulf until we determined that the latest unanswered Hussein provocation was the "last resort?"

4. We are winning the peace. The progress that has been made in Iraq over the last 10 months and the attitude of the vast majority of the Iraqi people, when compared with the most recent historical examples of occupations and reconstructions following Western military action (i.e. Kosovo, Bosnia, Haiti, Japan, and Germany) is remarkable. Also, the most siginificant postwar risk (i.e. civil war) has not been realized, although it is still a possibility.

5. To use the word "misled" as an active verb instead of a passive one implies that the President knew that his statement in the State of the Union address concerning African yellowcake was false. The President correctly cited British intelligence as the source of the assertion that Saddam was seeking yellowcake in Niger. British intelligence continues to believe Saddam was doing so. It has not been proven that British intelligence was wrong. The CIA's position at the time was not in opposition to that of the British. The CIA said that it could not confirm the British position. The President's statement was therefore precisely correct and was approved by the CIA. How, Mr. Kerry, does that consititute an active deception. How, in fact, Mr. Kerry, do you know that British intellience was and is wrong? Finally, Mr. Kerry, if Saddam did not harbor nuclear ambitions, why were all those prohibited aluminum tubes being smuggled into Iraq and why was an Iraqi nuclear scientist concealing a centrifuge capable of assisting in the enrichment of uranium at his home?

6. Saddam did have an active WMD program. The mustard and nerve gas agents found in the Tigris and Euphrates by U.S. military water purification teams do not occur unassisted in nature, and there was a reason that empty missile warheads designed to carry and disperse chemical agents were found being smuggled from Iraq to Kuwait and not the other way around. The failure to find an object, particularly a small object in a large area, does not mean that the object is not there. A hole the size of the one in which Saddam was found could contain enough biological agent to kill many thousands of people. Mr. Kay, who is your principal source for the proposition that WMD's probably did not exist in Iraq prior to the war, also has said that Saddam will probably ultimately be found to have been very much more dangerous than we believed at the start of the war. Do you agree with all of Mr. Kay's opinions or just those that support your political ambitions?

7. George Bush has been consistent on Iraq. It is you who have vacillated. He has found the right policy on Iraq. Because of his policy, The terrorist training camp at Salman Pak, with its Boeing fuselage, is no longer operating, Saddam is in custody and his sons are dead, the wives and daughters of Saddam's perceived opponents are no longer subject to the tender mercies of the rape rooms, Ansar al Islam is no longer shipping ricin to Western Europe, Abu Nidal is dead (and may the soul of Leon Klinghofer rest in peace), Abu Abbas is in custody, Iraq is no longer subsidizing and incentivizing Palestinian suicide bombers, U.S. forces are withdrawing from Saudi Arabia, there is at least a chance that democracy will flourish in the Middle East outside of Israel, Saddam's killing fields are being emptied rather than filled, a man who supported the first attempt to destroy the World Trade Center, an attempt on the life of ex-President Bush, and if Czech intelligence is correct, the 9-11 attacks themselves is now in custody rather than in power, and Libya has given up its nuclear ambitions. And all of this has been accomplished at a tragic but, by historical standards, unbelievably small cost in American life. How exactly would you change this remarkably successful policy, Mr. Kerry?

To use the word "misled" as an active verb instead of a passive one implies that the President knew that his statement in the State of the Union address concerning African yellowcake was false.

Iraq's trade mission to Niger in 1999 is public information. Why Bush chose to attribute public information to British intel escapes me, but the fact is that it is public. So there isn't even any question that what Bush said was true.

Why Joe Wilson forgot to mention that fact in his op-ed piece also escapes me. But you can afford to be more confident in the future on that point.

Because of his policy, The terrorist training camp at Salman Pak, with its Boeing fuselage, is no longer operating, Saddam is in custody and his sons are dead, the wives and daughters of Saddam's perceived opponents are no longer subject to the tender mercies of the rape rooms, Ansar al Islam is no longer shipping ricin to Western Europe, Abu Nidal is dead (and may the soul of Leon Klinghofer rest in peace), Abu Abbas is in custody, Iraq is no longer subsidizing and incentivizing Palestinian suicide bombers, U.S. forces are withdrawing from Saudi Arabia, there is at least a chance that democracy will flourish in the Middle East outside of Israel, Saddam's killing fields are being emptied rather than filled, a man who supported the first attempt to destroy the World Trade Center, an attempt on the life of ex-President Bush, and if Czech intelligence is correct, the 9-11 attacks themselves is now in custody rather than in power, and Libya has given up its nuclear ambitions. And all of this has been accomplished at a tragic but, by historical standards, unbelievably small cost in American life.

Excellent.

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