Posted on 09/20/2004 10:23:53 AM PDT by luknskill
US Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry has made his most outspoken attack on President Bush over the conflict in Iraq. In a speech setting out his plans for Iraq's future, he accused Mr Bush of "colossal failures of judgement".
With six weeks to go until the US poll, Mr Kerry seems to have shifted his campaign focus away from the economy.
It is a bold and maybe reckless move to turn Mr Kerry into the anti-war candidate, correspondents say.
Six weeks before the presidential election, the Kerry team appear to have made a strategic decision to up the ante over Iraq, says the BBC's Justin Webb in Washington.
Previously, the senator had been vague about whether or not he thought overthrowing Saddam Hussein was the right thing to do, but on Monday he was much clearer - he would not have invaded, our correspondent says.
'Chaos'
Iraq was a profound diversion from that war and the battle against our greatest enemy, Osama Bin Laden and the terrorists
John Kerry Mr Kerry said the president's decision to go to war against Iraq had distracted from a greater threat to the US - more terrorist attacks - and created a crisis which could lead to an unending war.
"Iraq was a profound diversion from that war and the battle against our greatest enemy, Osama Bin Laden and the terrorists," he said in his speech delivered at New York University.
"Invading Iraq has created a crisis of historic proportions and, if we do not change course, there is the prospect of a war with no end in sight.
"Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who deserves his own special place in hell. That was not a reason to go to war. We have traded a dictator for a chaos that has left America less secure."
He also reminded his audience that more than 1,000 Americans had now died since the start of the war.
He offered his own four-point plan for handling the conflict:
Get more help from other nations
Provide better training for Iraqi security forces
Provide benefits to the Iraqi people
Ensure democratic elections can be held next year as promised. These measures could mean US troops coming home over the next four years, beginning next summer.
The Bush campaign has accused Mr Kerry of inconsistency on Iraq and said a change in the middle of the war was not what the nation needed.
I heard a report recently that Kerry's parents claimed that HE was a mistake!
TRASH THE TROOPS!-VOTE KERRY/EDWARS IN 04
The crowd at Joseph Stalin University must have loved that speech. Way to go John !!! I'm sure our boys in Iraq love hearing about how useless their efforts are. Deeeeek.
As I've said before, kerry was and is a TRAITOR. He showed his preference when he visited with the No Vietnamese in the 70s and he's showing his preference now. He's hoping, along with fonda and others to turn America into amerika.
How will he get other nations involved? LMAO, France (his buddy) has already said they will NOT send any troops there if K wins!
Also, he never says HOW he will do all this, like bringing the troops home in a year & all the troops by 4 years. It's all talk, WORDS that his new advisors put in his mouth! It's like selling a product, just like they did with Clinton. What they did for Clinton, they're trying to do for Kerry now. They sold Clinton to the people as better than TIDE detergent! Well, many Americans want proof & don't believe every TV commercial ad they see & that is what Kerrys speeches are now, nothing but INFOMERCIALS!
At least he didn't promise to raise our taxes (as in Hillary's mistake).
How is this four-point plan different than what we are already doing??
No difference??
Never mind...
kerry will kneel and kiss the patuttie of any conquorer of this country. He is not fit to be president. But then he won't win, ole broadbeam is waiting in the wings, her broom in place for the flight.
Has he testified against our men and women in Iraq yet? Or is he saving up?
John Kerry: Bringing Jihad and beheading of Americans to a city near you.
It is Vietnam all over -- in this sense: the war is just, and Kerry and his ilk are now undermining the effort, and getting ready once again to betray America.
Flip-flopping is not just an embarrassment for him: it could be fatal for us.
Just an aside from this article, I was channel surfing to see the fallout about the memos & CNN's Wolf Blitzer said, just before noon central time, that John Kerrys campaign is in trouble, he said not even going by the National Polls, but state by state, he is losing the voters. That's big for CNN!
John Kerry, our own Communist Spanish-French-American POS.
He's killing Americans...he has a lot of blood on his hands.
Sounds like the Foundary Principal -- No matter how much hot metal you pour in, the scum always rises to the top.
A_R
HA HA, He's probably saving that one for the DEBATES!
Only four points? I'm so reassured.
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