Posted on 05/28/2004 1:15:53 PM PDT by plain talk
Democratic challenger John Kerry charged on Friday that President Bush undermined America's safety by having "rushed off to war" in Iraq without adequate help or "a plan to win the peace." "I believe that the Bush administration -- and I say this carefully and thoughtfully ... made America less safe, not more safe, with their blustery arrogant foreign policy," Kerry said at town hall meeting with military veterans and family members. "I believe our troops are in greater danger today, exposed to more gun fire and more mortar attacks and more ambushes than they had to be if we had done what common sense dictates ... which is to build alliances and share the responsibilities," Kerry said.
Kerry made the comments as he touted his proposed new national security strategy, unveiled the day before in Seattle, to forge a coordinated global alliance against terror and end what he has described as Bush's divisive bullying tactics. He plans two more speeches in the next week to further outline his foreign policy, which up to now has shown little major deviation from Bush's. On Iraq, they share plenty of common ground although Kerry vows to set a different tone than Bush. "We rushed off to war without an adequate plan, without adequate supplies ... without a plan to win the peace," Kerry said.
Yet Kerry, who backed the congressional resolution authorizing Bush to use force in Iraq, had no snap answer when a woman asked: "What do you plan to do to bring our troops home?" Kerry said he could not predict what the situation would be in Iraq on Jan. 20, 2005, when he would be inaugurated as president if he beats Bush in the November election. But he said, "I'm going to get our troops home as fast as possible with honor and the job accomplished in the way it needs to be."
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But Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said, "John Kerry's political attacks ignore the fact that Kerry voted against the $87 billion supplemental that included pay raises for our troops, gave them better health care and sent them essential equipment including body armor."
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Kerry - STFU - You VOTED FOR IT.
Kerry voted for it BEFORE Bush "rushed" off to war.
The French option? There is no dis-honor in total surrender.
Constitution Day accuses Kerry of being a flip-flopping weasel.
Peace with honor, eh? Man, this Nixon-hater is practically quoting the man to get elected. He is stuck in 1972 for all eternity, everything revolving around Vietnam and Nixon and everything he learned back then.
Of course, there would have been the slight problems that the leader of that government would have worn a mustache, and its flag would have been the swastika. But patience is important, and you can't have everything, right?
Congressman Billybob
This is good. When he keeps his mouth shut, he just LOOKS like a dork. Whenever he opens it, and PROVES he's a dork. Keep talking Kerry! You're on a roll!
Britain, Australia, Denmark, Poland, Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Colombia, the Czech Republic, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
Damn... if only we had ALLIANCES with other countries!!!!
As part of their "hope for a scandal" against Bush strategy to win, the Democrats are now simply throwing mud up against the wall, hoping that something sticks.This is amateurish politics. Everyone knows, or will soon know, that Senator Kerry voted to use force against Iraq *months* before President Bush actually went to war.
Everyone will likewise soon realize that as an acting Senator, that Kerry could have written an amendment to insist on building *any* alliance into that vote for war...yet he offered nothing, no advice, no alternative, just his "Aye" vote to use force at the time.
These are slam dunk rebuttals to today's mud slinging. Even political neophytes can think far enough ahead to see the obvious counters to Senator Kerry's speech today.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Senator Kerry's 2004 campaign will be used in future political science textbooks as precisely what *not* to do in an election season.
(A) Kerry voted for it and (B) Oil for Food bribe money will be traced to the reluctant 'allies' Kerry loves so much.
We were attacked on 9/11.....what was it, 15 months later we went into Iraq, after we told Saddam repeatedly we when were coming.
His speech's would be received with much more enthusiasm if he were to give them to an audience of a foreign country.
Didn't you know ... history for liberals began this morning.
12 years of rushing into war.
Me thinks that would be taken as a compliment by JFK!
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