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Comprehensive list of Kerry Quotes on Iraq.
http://www.kerryquotes.com ^

Posted on 09/08/2004 9:34:03 AM PDT by Spackidagoosh

Iraq War

"Thank you for contacting me to express your opposition ... to the early use of military force by the US against Iraq. I share your concerns. On January 11, I voted in favor of a resolution that would have insisted that economic sanctions be given more time to work and against a resolution giving the president the immediate authority to go to war." letter from Senator John Kerry to Wallace Carter of Newton Centre, Massachusetts, dated January 22 [1991]

And at the same time, he wrote this:

"Thank you very much for contacting me to express your support for the actions of President Bush in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. From the outset of the invasion, I have strongly and unequivocally supported President Bush's response to the crisis and the policy goals he has established with our military deployment in the Persian Gulf." Senator Kerry to Wallace Carter, January 31 [1991]

Did you know?? As Michael Dukakis' lieutenant governor, Kerry authored an executive order that said the state of Massachusetts would refuse to take part in any civil defense efforts in response to a nuclear attack on America.

Nov 12, 1997: In response to a question about unanimity over a U.N. resolution, kerry responded: where's the backbone of Russia, where's the backbone of France, where are they in expressing their condemnation of such clearly illegal activity, but in a sense, they're now climbing into a box and they will have enormous difficulty not following up on this if there is not compliance by Iraq....It was disappointing a month ago not to have the French and the Russians understanding that they shouldn't give any signals of weakening on the sanctions and I think those signals would have helped bring about this crisis because they permitted Saddam Hussein to interpret that maybe the moment was right for him to make this challenge. crossfire

Feb 23, 1998: "Saddam Hussein has already used these weapons and has made it clear that he has the intent to continue to try, by virtue of his duplicity and secrecy, to continue to do so. That is a threat to the stability of the Middle East. It is a threat with respect to the potential of terrorist activities on a global basis. It is a threat even to regions near but not exactly in the Middle East." The Disgrace of John Kerry by Kevin Willmann Saturday, April 05, 2003

Oct 9, 1998: "We urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs." Letter to President Clinton, signed by Sens. Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and others.

Oct 10, 1998: "We know from our largely unsuccessful attempts to enlist the cooperation of other nations, especially industrialized trading nations, in efforts to impose and enforce somewhat more ambitious standards on nations such as Iran, China, Burma and Syria, that the willingness of most other nations — including a number who are joined in the sanctions to isolate Iraq — is neither wide nor deep to join in imposing sanctions on a sovereign nation to spur it to `clean up its act' and comport its actions with accepted international norms." Senate Floor Speech Try to figure out what he just said there!

Sep 6, 2002: "If Saddam Hussein is unwilling to bend to the international community's already existing order, then he will have invited enforcement, even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act." Op-Ed, "We Still Have A Choice On Iraq," The New York Times

Oct 9, 2002: "I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force-- if necessary-- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security." Senate Speech

Oct 9, 2002: "The threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real, but as I said, it is not new. It has been with us since the end of that war, and particularly in the last 4 years we know after Operation Desert Fox failed to force him to reaccept them, that he has continued to build those weapons. He has had a free hand for 4 years to reconstitute these weapons, allowing the world, during the interval, to lose the focus we had on weapons of mass destruction and the issue of proliferation."

Oct 9, 2002: The Iraqi regime's record over the decade leaves little doubt that Saddam Hussein wants to retain his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and to expand it to include nuclear weapons. We cannot allow him to prevail in that quest. johnkerry.com speeches (Thanks Scot!)

Oct 9, 2002: "Regime change has been an American policy under the Clinton administration, and it is the current policy. I support the policy. But regime change in and of itself is not sufficient justification for going to war--particularly unilaterally--unless regime change is the only way to disarm Iraq of the weapons of mass destruction pursuant to the United Nations resolution." Speech on senate floor (Thanks Aaron)

Jan 23, 2003: "Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real..."

Sep 14, 2003: “I don’t think anyone in the Congress is going to not give our troops ammunition, not give our troops the ability to be able to defend themselves. We’re not going to cut and run and not do the job.” (CBS’ “Face The Nation,”) (watch)

Sep 14, 2003: “I don’t think any United States senator is going to abandon our troops and recklessly leave Iraq to – to whatever follows as a result of simply cutting and running. That’s irresponsible. What is responsible is for the administration to do this properly now.” (CBS’ “Face The Nation,”) (watch)

Dec 2, 2003: Did I expect George Bush to fuck it up as badly as he did? I don't think anybody did. Now that's what I call presidential! www.johnkerry.com

Dec 15, 2003: "Iraq may not be the war on terror itself, but it is critical to the outcome of the war on terror, and therefore any advance in Iraq is an advance forward in that..."

Jan 30, 2004: "I think there has been an exaggeration," Mr. Kerry said when asked whether President Bush has overstated the threat of terrorism. "They are misleading all Americans in a profound way." washtims (Thanks Michael!)

Mar 16, 2004: "I actually did vote for his $87 billion, before I voted against it." Newsmax (Listen) (Listen)

Mar 17, 2004: "For a President, the decision may be lonely, but that does not mean that America should go it alone." (Remarks At George Washington University, Washington, DC)

Apr 7, 2004: When speaking of terrorist Shiite imam Muqtada al-Sadr's newspaper, which was shut down by coalition forces last week after it urged violence against U.S. troops, Kerry complained to National Public Radio, "They shut a newspaper that belongs to a legitimate voice in Iraq." Then, finding another way to parallel what Ted Kennedy was saying this week: "If all we do is make war against the Iraqi people and continue an American occupation, fundamentally, without a clarity as to who and how sovereignty is being turned over, we have a very serious problem for the long run here" newsmax Well, it's clear that the Iman enjoys the support of JFK and Ted Kennedy:

Shiite terrorist leader Muqtada al-Sadr was so impressed with Sen. Ted Kennedy's portrayal of the war in Iraq as "George Bush's Vietnam," he's picked up the theme himself. "Iraq will be another Vietnam for America and the occupiers," al-Sadr said in a statement issued from his office in Najaf.

Al-Sadr's remark mirrored Kennedy's own anti-war blast, when he told the Brookings Institution, "Iraq is George Bush's Vietnam."

"I call upon the American people to stand beside their brethren, the Iraqi people, who are suffering an injustice by your rulers and the occupying army, to help them in the transfer of power to honest Iraqis," the al-Sadr statement continued, according to the Associated Press.

No doubt Sen. Kennedy will echo the al-Sadr sentiment in his next address. newsmax

April 27, 2004: Just a few weeks ago in a speech, he said: "George Bush sold us on going to war with Iraq based on the threat of weapons of mass destruction. But we still haven't found them. ... We were misled about weapons of mass destruction." But there's a different view today. "It appears, as they peel away the weapons of mass destruction issue - and we may yet find them," newsmax

May 11, 2004: "What has happened is not just something that a few, you know, privates and corporals or sergeants engaged in." newsmax Once again, showing how you can disregard the facts, creating your own in order to score points with the demon-crat supporters...

May 13, 2004: "I will fight a more effective war on terror because I would never have thrown out of the door or window the obligations of the Geneva Conventions," newsmax Aha! So the prison guards were told not to follow the Geneva Convention??!!?? And secondly, how does this make you more effective at the war on terror?? JFK, I question your intelligence.

July 8, 2004: On Larry King Live, King asked: News of the day, Tom Ridge warned today about al Qaeda plans of a large-scale attack on the United States. Didn't increase the -- you see any politics in this? What's your reaction? to which JFK responded, "Well, I haven't been briefed yet, Larry. They have offered to brief me. I just haven't had time." Gee, sorry you've been so busy that you have felt that fundraisers were more important than you keeping up-to-date with national security... and.. when asked about where he was on 9/11: "I was in the Capitol. We'd just had a meeting - we'd just come into a leadership meeting in Tom Daschle's office, looking out at the Capitol. And as I came in, Barbara Boxer and Harry Reid were standing there, and we watched the second plane come in to the building. And we shortly thereafter sat down at the table and then we just realized nobody could think, and then boom, right behind us, we saw the cloud of explosion at the Pentagon. And then word came from the White House, they were evacuating, and we were to evacuate, and so we immediately began the evacuation." I'm sure glad our president didn't have the same reaction...

July 26, 2004: "You don't value families if you force them to take up a collection to buy body armor for a son or daughter in the service." newsmax Gee, and to think you voted AGAINST getting the body armor for the troops....

Aug 9, 2004: Bush challenged Kerry to answer whether he would support the war "knowing what we know now" about the failure to find weapons of mass destruction that U.S. and British officials were certain were there. In response, Kerry said: "Yes, I would have voted for the authority. I believe it was the right authority for a president to have." Must be another one of those "I'm for it, but against it because I'd do a better job of it" moment....


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: kerry; kerryiraq; quotes

1 posted on 09/08/2004 9:34:04 AM PDT by Spackidagoosh
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To: Spackidagoosh

FLIP FLOP!


2 posted on 09/08/2004 9:36:36 AM PDT by jerod
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To: Spackidagoosh

Well, none of should be surprising, given that he's now proud of serving in a war he was against.


3 posted on 09/08/2004 9:37:23 AM PDT by The G Man (I'm mad as ZELL and I'm not gonna take it anymore!)
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To: Spackidagoosh

Bumpus Maximus


4 posted on 09/08/2004 9:37:51 AM PDT by Phantom Lord (Advantages are taken, not handed out)
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To: The G Man
Well, none of should be surprising, given that he's now proud of serving in a war he was against.

And proud of a war he voted against and called the coalition a fraud (Gulf War I).

5 posted on 09/08/2004 9:39:23 AM PDT by Phantom Lord (Advantages are taken, not handed out)
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To: Spackidagoosh

Thanks.


6 posted on 09/08/2004 9:40:10 AM PDT by lilylangtree (Veni, Vidi, Vici)
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To: Spackidagoosh

Flip-flop Bump!
(Kerry + Dukakis = Kedorkus!)


7 posted on 09/08/2004 10:01:56 AM PDT by talleyman (Kry-baby Kerry can't handle two ads, how's he gonna handle the real hot seat? Can't take the heat...)
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To: Spackidagoosh; agrace

read later


8 posted on 09/08/2004 10:07:52 AM PDT by lightingguy (We're not right wing, we're just right (J. Quinn))
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To: Spackidagoosh

bookmarking


9 posted on 09/08/2004 10:12:45 AM PDT by brothers4thID (I have knocked on door of this man's soul- and found someone home.)
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To: talleyman

DuKerrykis?


10 posted on 09/08/2004 10:13:04 AM PDT by itsamelman (“Announcing your plans is a good way to hear God laugh.” -- Al Swearengen)
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To: Spackidagoosh

Great compilation!


11 posted on 09/08/2004 11:03:47 AM PDT by jcb8199
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To: Spackidagoosh

bttt


12 posted on 09/08/2004 11:42:31 AM PDT by Christian4Bush (I approve this message: "It is the soldier, not the orator, who protects our freedom of speech...")
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To: Spackidagoosh
Yes, he is the man.
13 posted on 09/08/2004 12:20:51 PM PDT by mc5cents ("We will have to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." Hillary Clinton)
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To: itsamelman
DuKerrykis?

Don't know - ask Mama Tarayza...

14 posted on 09/09/2004 10:21:57 AM PDT by talleyman (Proud graduate, Attila the Hun School of Diplomacy)
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