John Kerry For President | Title: "Different Story"

Republican National Committee ^ | September 26, 2004

[RWR8189]

Rhetoric

NARRATOR: “George Bush keeps telling us things are getting better in Iraq.”

CHYRON: “Freedom on the March in Iraq, Bush Tells Voters”

CHYRON: “Source: Washington Post Sept. 16, 2004”

NARRATOR: “The facts tell a different story.”

CHYRON: “U.S. Intelligence Shows Pessimism On Iraq's Future”

CHYRON: “Source: New York Times Sept. 16, 2004”

NARRATOR: “Terrorists are pouring into the country.”

CHYRON: “Iraqi PM: ‘Terrorists pouring in’”

CHYRON: “Source: CNN international.com Sept. 20, 2004”

NARRATOR: “Attacks on U.S. forces are increasing every month.”

CHYRON: “U.S. Troops’ Death Rate Rising in Iraq”

CHYRON: “Source: Washington Post Sept. 9, 2004”

NARRATOR: “A thousand American soldiers have died.”

CHYRON: “U.S. Toll in Iraq Passes 1000 Dead”

CHYRON: “Source: Springfield News-Leader Sept. 8, 2004”

The Facts

President Is Clear And Honest About Road Ahead In Iraq

President Understands “It’s Hard To Help A Country Go From Tyranny” To Democracy.  PRESIDENT BUSH: “We're doing hard work in Iraq right now. It's hard to help a country go from tyranny to elections to peace when there are a handful of people who are willing to kill in order to stop the process. And that's what you're seeing on the TV screens.”  (President George W. Bush, Remarks In King Of Prussia, PA, 9/22/04)

President Understands That Fighting Terrorists Is “Tough.”  PRESIDENT BUSH: “We're building – rebuilding Iraq. And it's tough, at times, because once you build something, they blow it up. But there is steady progress, in terms of reconstruction.”  (President George W. Bush, Remarks In King Of Prussia, PA, 9/22/04)

Since Moment President Bush Declared Major Combat Operations Over, He Has Been Clear About Difficult Road Ahead In Iraq.  “We have difficult work to do in Iraq. We're bringing order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. ... The transition from dictatorship to democracy will take time, but it is worth every effort. Our coalition will stay until our work is done. Then we will leave, and we will leave behind a free Iraq.”  (President George W. Bush, Remarks On USS Abraham Lincoln, 5/1/03)

Kerry Exaggerates Extent Of Danger In Iraq For Political Purposes

Prime Minister Allawi Notes 15 Of 18 Provinces “Are Completely Safe” And Small Pockets Of Terrorists Exist In Just Three Provinces.  PRIME MINISTER ALLAWI: “Let me explain something, which is very important. I have noticed -- and the media have been neglected and omitted several times -- in the Western media -- Iraq is made out of 18 provinces, 18, 1-8.  Out of these 18 provinces, 14 to 15 are completely safe, there are no problems.   And I can count them for you, starting from Basra moving into Iraq Kurdistan.  There are three areas, three provinces where there are pockets of insurgents, pockets of terrorists who are acting there and are moving from there to inflict damage elsewhere in the country. So, really, if you care to look at Iraq properly, and go from Basra to Nasiriyah to Kut to Diyala to Najaf to Karbala to Diwaniya to Samaraa to Kirkuk to Sulaymaniyah to Dahuk to Arbil, there are no problems.  It's safe, it's good. There are problems in Fallujah.  Fallujah is part of a province; the province is called Al Anbar.  It's vast, very big; it has many other important towns, such as Ana, such as Rawa, such as Ramadi.  There is nothing there.  In Ana and Rawa, indeed, there is nothing, no problem, except on a small pocket in Fallujah. So, really, I call upon the responsible media -- throughout the world, not only here -- to look at the facts as they are in Iraq and to propagate these facts to the international community.”  (Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, Press Conference, 9/23/04)

Despite Kerry Campaign’s Attempt To Provide Negative Spin On Situation In Iraq, Irais “Are Resolved To Beat Terrorism And To Defeat The Insurgents.”  PRIME MINISTER ALLAWI: “I am not trying to undermine that there are dangers.  There are dangers in Iraq; there are problems, and we are facing international terrorist onslaught on Iraq.  I, personally, receive every day a threat.  In the last four weeks, they found four conspiracies to kill me.  And, likewise, there are killing people -- they are killing officials, they are killing innocent people.  But the Iraqis are not deterred, and we are not going to be deterred.  I went the next day and saw our recruitment center for the police, after they killed, massacred 40-45 people.  I found hundreds of people coming to be volunteer -- to volunteer to the police and to the army.  I spoke to them.  They are all upbeat.  They are resolved to beat terrorism and to defeat the insurgents.”  (Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, Press Conference, 9/23/04)

Emergence Of Free Iraq Demonstrates Worthy Sacrifice Of American Soldiers

Iraqi Prime Minister Thanks America For “Enormous Sacrifices To Liberate Iraq.”  PRIME MINISTER ALLAWI: “The second message is quite simple and one that I would like to deliver directly from my people to yours. Thank you, America. We Iraqis know that Americans have made and continue to make enormous sacrifices to liberate Iraq, to assure Iraq's freedom. I have come here to thank you and to promise you that your sacrifices are not in vain. The overwhelming majority of Iraqis are grateful. They are grateful to be rid of Saddam Hussein and the torture and brutality he forced upon us; grateful for the chance to build a better future for our families, our country and our region. We Iraqis are grateful to you, America, for your leadership and your sacrifice for our liberation and our opportunity to start anew.”  (Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, Remarks To Joint Session Of U.S. Congress, Washington, DC, 9/23/04)

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Rhetoric

NARRATOR: “We need a fresh start to fix the mess in Iraq.”

CHYRON: “Kerry Outlines Plan to Fix Iraq”

CHYRON: “USA Today, 9/21/04”

NARRATOR: “The Kerry solution: Allies share the burden.”

CHYRON: “Allies share the burden”

NARRATOR: “Train Iraqis to protect themselves.”

CHYRON: “Train Iraqis to protect themselves”

NARRATOR: “Take the real steps needed to hold free elections.”

CHYRON: “Steps to Hold Free Elections”

NARRATOR: “John Kerry: A new direction in Iraq.”

CHYRON: “A New Direction in Iraq”

CHYRON: “Approved By John Kerry & Paid For By Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc.”

JOHN KERRY: “I’m John Kerry and I approve this message.”

CHYRON: “Stronger at Home”

CHYRON: “Respected in the World”

CHYRON: “Kerry-Edwards”

CHYRON: “Approved By John Kerry & Paid For By Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc.”

The Facts

Kerry’s “Fresh Start” Not So Fresh

Kerry’s Proposed Steps Have Been U.S. Policy For One A Year, But Kerry Adds New Element Of Retreat To Them.  “The four steps suggested by Kerry were adopted as US policy over a year ago. What is new in Kerry’s position is that he sets dates for bringing American troops home, regardless of whether or not US strategic goals are achieved. It is in this sense that, if Kerry is elected, Iraq could, indeed, become another Vietnam.”  (Amir Taheri, “Iraq: Why US Shouldn’t Cut And Run,” Arab News, 9/24/04)

Kerry Can’t Bring In New Allies

Kerry’s Own Advisor Doesn’t Think Kerry Can Increase Number Of Allies On Ground In Iraq.  RICHARD HOLBROOKE: “Bob, none of us expect President Chirac of France to call up President Kerry on January 21st of next year and say, ‘How many divisions should I send to Iraq?’”  (CBS’ “Face The Nation,” 9/19/04)

The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Dick Polman Questions Kerry’s Ability To Bring New Allies Into Iraq.  “Sen. Kerry, you keep saying you'd do a better job stabilizing Iraq and ensuring an eventual troop withdrawal, by enlisting more help from NATO and our Western allies. But your claim doesn't square with all the facts - for example, NATO members are wary about new commitments in Iraq, because they already have 25,000 troops on the ground in Afghanistan and the former Yugoslavia. The Germans have voiced no desire to help, no matter who is our president. And French President Jacques Chirac said on Sept. 20 that, whatever the election results, ‘French policy with regard to Iraq has not changed and will not change.’ You say that President Bush has been living in a ‘fantasy world.’ But, given these realities, can't the same charge be made about your Iraq proposal?”  (Dick Polman, “Debate's The Place To Cut To The Chase,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/26/04)

Roll Call’s Mort Kondracke Questions “Who Will Provide” Troops Kerry Pledges.  “Kerry's NYU speech contained a four-point ‘plan’ for Iraq, which Bush declared that he's already been pursuing: seeking help from allies, speeding the reconstruction and the training of Iraqi forces, and planning elections to transfer full sovereignty to the Iraqis. At the United Nations, French President Jacques Chirac made it clear that France will supply no troops, regardless of who wins the election. Kerry says that more troops are needed to prevent Islamic terrorists from entering Iraq. So who will provide them?”  (Morton M. Kondracke, Op-Ed, “Kerry Still Hasn't Made His Case On Iraq Strategy,” Roll Call, 9/23/04)

U.S. And NATO Already Training Iraq Security Forces

U.S. And NATO Allies Already Training Iraqis, And Recently Increased Size Of Training Mission In Iraq.  “The North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed Wednesday to expand the training of Iraqi security force officers at a facility outside Baghdad in preparation for planned elections in January. The compromise agreement, overcoming resistance from Germany and France, will expand NATO's training mission in Iraq from about 50 officers to as many as 300 personnel, the alliance said.”  (Keith B. Richburg, “NATO To Dispatch Additional Military Trainers To Iraq,” The Washington Post, 9/23/04)

Already, Over 46,000 Iraqi Defense Forces And More Than 53,000 Iraqi Interior Forces Have Completed Training.  (Charts Accompanying “Talking Points – Sept. 20, 2004 – Iraq Security,” U.S. Department Of Defense, 9/20/04)

Kerry Has Wavered On Need For Democracy In Iraq

Kerry Made “Troubling And Mistaken” Shift On Need To Establish Democracy In Iraq.  “Where once [Kerry] named democracy as a task to be completed, and the alternative to ‘cutting and running’ or a ‘false success,’ Mr. Kerry now says democracy is optional. Where once he warned against setting the conditions for an early but irresponsible withdrawal of U.S. forces, now he does so himself by defining the exit standard as ‘stability,’ a term that could describe Saudi Arabia or Iran – or the Iraq of Saddam Hussein. … ‘Iraq,’ Mr. Bush said at his news conference last week, ‘will either be a peaceful democratic country or it will again be a source of violence, a haven for terrorists, and a threat to America and to the world.’ Mr. Kerry now argues that there is a third option. But what would that be? ‘I can’t tell you what it’s going to be,’ he said to reporters covering his campaign. ‘That stability can take several forms.’ True; in the Middle East, there is the stability of Islamic dictatorship, the stability of military dictatorship and the stability of monarchical dictatorship. In Lebanon, there is the stability of permanent foreign occupation and de facto ethnic partition. None is in the interest of the United States; all have helped create the extremism and terrorism against which this nation is now at war. … [O]n goals Mr. Bush is right, not only in a moral sense but from the perspective of U.S. security too. … We believe a successful political outcome is still possible; others disagree. But Mr. Kerry’s shift on such a basic question after just a few months is troubling and mistaken.”  (Editorial, “Mr. Kerry Revises,” The Washington Post, 4/21/04)