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.
John Kerry: Giving aid and comfort to America's enemies for over 30 years.
Kerry should rot in hell for this, and I pray the American people will hold him accountable for it. He (and his daugthers) or undermining our country in a time of war.
Why are we surprised by this? Is this not what he did with regard to the Viet Nam war? Bashing those who are still on the front lines is nothing new for him.
Kerry is a traitor that CONTINUES TO GIVE AID AND COMFORT TO OUR ENEMIES. He is far more concerned with gaining power and control of the USA, than he is about this country and its war with its enemies.
Welcome to the far-left liberal Dem platform.
Kerry must be having a rush of nostalgia for his good ol' days again.
Ahh, yes, that twinge in his shoulder as he flung his medals in protest, a throat raspy after misleading the Congress, a sore finger from rewinding his home movie camera....
This coming from the same man who turned his back on American troops back in 1971. He's doing it to the troops in 2004 and will turn his back on the citizens of this country the first chance he gets. This man truly IS "Unfit For Command".
Yes, the Democrats did nominate their perfect candidate... one willing to say anything, and do anything, no matter how cynical, no matter what the cost to the nation.
The BBC (not what you'd called a right wing media source, LOL) using the word "reckless" is akin to saying Kerry has just staged a trainwreck for his campaign.
Oh, I'm sure that won't effect the willingness of terrorists to continue on. [/sarcasim]
John Kerry promoted surrender in 1971, and he still is.
Iraq is the battleground in which we are fighting our greatest enemy, Osama Bin Laden and the terrorists. Kerry know this, but he doesn't want the American people to get wind of this.
All he can do is bash Bush. He has no plan. He has no idea. He has no morals. He has no spine. I can't wait to get him off of TV, RADIO, FR, etc......
"a sore finger from rewinding his home movie camera...."
Sounds like Purple Heart material to me...
"He offered his own four-point plan for handling the conflict:"
THAT's his big plan? Do more of what Bush is already doing?
This guy is a joke. He trundles out a new position, and then a ridiculously vague plan to knock the legs out from himself.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. However on Tuesday it might be back to the fog.
His "four points" are so stunningly unoriginal I'm surprised he could utter them with a straight face.
I wish the Bush people would say in every speech about how he has been on the wrong side every conflict - against Reagan, against the Gulf War - He has been WRONG everytime. HE is WRONG again and how can we ever trust him to be right after being WRONG so often. I wish Bush would hammer him on this like Hannity does.
***"The democrats would rather win the WH than the war." - Tom DeLay***
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