Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., center, answers questions from the media after exiting his plane at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Detroit on Thursday, June 17, 2004. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Posted on 06/17/2004 4:02:26 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
DETROIT - Democratic presidential challenger John Kerry (news - web sites) said Thursday that the Sept. 11 commission's report clearly shows President Bush (news - web sites) "rushed to war for a purpose that it now turns out is not supported by the facts."
Bush continued to insist Thursday that there was a link between Iraq (news - web sites) and al-Qaida, despite the independent commission's finding that there is no evidence to support a collaborative relationship. Bush said no one in his administration has said the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, were orchestrated between Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) and al-Qaida.
Kerry seized upon the commission's findings as further evidence that the White House misled the public about its reasons for invading Iraq. He said Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) "on a number of occasions have asserted very directly to the American people that the war against al-Qaida is the war in Iraq. And on any number of occasions the president has made it clear that the front of the war against al-Qaida is in Iraq."
"This administration took its eye off of al-Qaida, took its eye off of the real war on terror in Afghanistan (news - web sites) and northwest Pakistan and transferred it for reasons of its own to Iraq," Kerry said. "And the American people are paying billions of dollars now because of that decision. And most importantly, American families and American soldiers are paying the highest price of all."
Asked what Bush's true motivation was for attacking Saddam's government, Kerry said that is a question for the administration.
"It is clear that the president owes the American people a fundamental explanation about why he rushed to war for a purpose that it now turns out is not supported by the facts," Kerry said. "And that is the finding of this commission."
Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt called the comments "another example of John Kerry trying to exploit the war on terror for political gain and to contradict his previous statements."
The Bush campaign said the Massachusetts senator's comments contradict the position he took in October 2002 as he prepared to vote for the Iraq war resolution in the Senate. Kerry said on the Senate floor that Saddam had supported and harbored terrorists, and specifically mentioned Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal and suicide murderers in Israel.
Kerry did not mention any ties to al-Qaida during that speech, in which he also said the United States should be prepared for war because of Saddam's dangerous potential.
In Detroit, Kerry stopped by Fishbone's restaurant in the city's Greektown neighborhood, where Mark Ivezaj told him the commission's findings could take him to victory on Nov. 2.
"Kerry, you got him," Ivezaj said as the candidate greeted diners. "He lied about Iraq."
Kerry also said Thursday that, as an American citizen and a senator, he felt misled by the Bush administration on the justification for war in Iraq.
"I'm a citizen of the nation and a senator and in both respects, I believe that we were misled about this administration's intentions about how it would go about this, building an international coalition, respecting the United Nations (news - web sites) process and now it seems the fundamentals of the rationale," he said.
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On the Net:
Kerry campaign: http://www.johnkerry.com
Bush-Cheney: htpp://www.georgewbush.com
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., center, answers questions from the media after exiting his plane at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Detroit on Thursday, June 17, 2004. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., right, waves as he and the Rev. Al Sharpton (news - web sites), left, greet locals in the Greektown area of Detroit on Thursday, June 17, 2004. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Shut up, Kerry. The adults are in charge here, and you need to butt out.
Wow. How much did "Mr. Common Man" pay for that plane?
Impressive.
Anyway, that 9/11 commission report isn't even good as toilet paper! Bunch of partisan hacks!
John must have missed the "real" commission report and what Lee Hamilton said earlier today.....too bad, maybe this will cast doubts on how up to date his frenchiness is.
I guess Kerry lies in bed at night just waiting for some little something so he can attack President Bush again. Why doesn't this man stand up and tell us all what HE would do so we could do it and bring our trooops home???? He can't cause he doesn't have a clue nor a plan. He just knows how to attack. ACtually, he makes an excellent dem/lib...Attack is all he knows.
Respecting the UN???? LOLOLOLOL that's a joke
The mainstream media want to defeat Bush so bad they've about developed a fever over it.
In 1997, Kerry was on a television show talking about Iraq and the need to take action. This is what he said (we don't need the stinkin' UN):
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. And clearly it is not just our best interests, it is in the best interests of the world to make it clear to Saddam Hussein that he's not going to get away with a breach of the '91 agreement that he's got to live up to, which is allowing inspections and dismantling his weapons and allowing us to know that he has dismantled his weapons. That's the price he pays for invading Kuwait and starting a war.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1087918/posts
Or a Goreasm...
The mainstream media want to defeat Bush so bad they've about developed a fever over it.
Credit that most accurate statement to Wolfstar.
Fox "Special Report" played the clip of Kerry saying this.
He is flat out wrong. The administration and the commission (and I am no fan of that commission) are not contradicting each other.
In fact, Fox then played a clip of Lee Hamilton talking to the press about his surprise at seeing the way the media is presenting the story. He neatly summed up the commission's report on the issue and stated what he understood VP Cheney to have said. He said he saw no difference in the two positions and he was perplexed as to why it was being characterized the way it was.
This is where I part company with Mr. Hamilton. It is being reported that way because Ben Veniste and his ilk are spinning it that way and the reporters always go with the dem/anti-Bush angle over the facts.
Oh.........okay.
You know, I would call John Kerry a horse's ass, but that would be an insult to a horse.
John Kerry shows a severe lack of ability to read a report and is either lacking capacity or is playing games in war time and both things are additional new reasons he is unqualified to become our President ever.
John Kerry... Sen. Pukehead
Niiiice plane. And to think people jumped all over Bush for riding in a Canadian bus.
Sen. Poopypants
Earth to Kerry........
..................STFU!
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