KERRY FLIP-FLOPPED ON TORA BORA

Kerry wants to sit down and talk to Osama over lunch.

Sounds like the name of a dance craze...

...The Tora Bora Flip Flop!

(Sorry to distract from your point, but I couldn't resist)

Of course he has a sensitivity for working in mountainous regions in War time, having guided his Swift Boat though the Mountains of Cambodia during a brutally cold Christmas...

If we had nuclear bunker busting bombs maybe we could have killed OBL without having to rely on the NA.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0201/20/le.00.html

Welcome back to LATE EDITION.

We are joined now by two members of the United States Senate: in Boston, Democrat John Kerry of Massachusetts. He serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And in Birmingham, Alabama, Republican Senator Richard Shelby. He's the vice chairman of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee.

Senators, always good to have both of you on the program.

Senator Kerry, let me begin with you. On Osama bin Laden and his whereabouts, we have heard everything from the president of Pakistan, President Musharraf, suggesting he may be dead from kidney failure, to others saying, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, he may still be in Afghanistan. What are you hearing?

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: The same. I mean...

BLITZER: So you have really no hard...

KERRY: It is really, Wolf, it is all speculation. I mean, if anybody knew, we would have him.

The bottom line is that the closest we came was in Tora Bora. I do think some people have asked some questions about how that particular component of the mission sort of played out. But the fact is that it is a difficult place. He is elusive.

I think they are doing the maximum amount right now possible to try to track him down. And it is an extraordinarily hard thing for him to hide somewhere. I mean, over a period of time, I think, he is in trouble.

BLITZER: What about that, Senator Shelby? You are a member of the Intelligence Committee, you get access to certain good information. What do you know about his whereabouts?

SEN. RICHARD SHELBY (R), ALABAMA: Well, we don't know where he is. I agree with John Kerry. If we knew where Osama bin Laden was at the moment, I believe he would either be captured or killed.

But he is on the run. He's been on the run, that is the sad thing about it. But it is difficult, but it's not impossible.

If he is alive -- which I believe he is until you show me the forensic evidence that he is not -- we're going to find him. It is going to be difficult for him to hide for very long. He's an imposing figure. He is wanted. There's a huge reward out there.

I think it is just a question of time. Now, is it going to be next week or next month? I'm not sure. But he is a marked man, I believe. BLITZER: And, Senator Shelby, the suggestion for President Musharraf that he has kidney problems and he may already be dead, is there any intelligence you have seen from any credible source to confirm that?

SHELBY: Not a bit. We have no evidence, just speculation, that he may have been killed. I would not believe he is dead at all until the forensic evidence is brought forth to us.

I believe he is alive. I don't know that.

But, as I said earlier, he is a marked man. The people are after him, our people, other people. And we are going to find him.

But we shouldn't just put all of our resources on Osama bin Laden, because there are a lot more just like him.

BLITZER: And on that specific point, Senator Kerry, what about Mullah Muhammad Omar, the leader of Taliban? The presumption is he is very much alive and he is still in Afghanistan.

KERRY: Well, he is alive. We know that. And we know he is in Afghanistan.

Look, this just underscores the nature of the relationships in the region. I am told that people in Afghanistan wouldn't even recognize him if he walked down the street because of the lack of photographs, the lack of any appearance on television.

He, obviously, has an ability. I mean, look, these are people who change allegiances overnight. I mean, part of the success of this campaign has been the fact that a great deal of money has changed hands. People have their internal rivalries. They have played them out.

And so, again, over a period of time as the new government begins to take hold, as we build a relationship with it. As our people begin, once again, to be in the country over a period of time, I would suggest that Mullah Omar has a problem.

But for the moment, he's able to allude in this period of uncertainty and in this period of very real lack of control of any kind of central government or effort.

BLITZER: Senator Shelby, the next step in the war -- obviously continuing action in Afghanistan -- but there has been a lot of speculation about Somalia, a lot of speculation about the Philippines, Yemen, Sudan perhaps Iraq. Where is this war moving now?

SHELBY: We're not sure, but I think what we have to do is follow the terrorist groups as they try to reassemble wherever they are. And some, like in the Philippines and other countries where there have been strong insurgences there, if the Philippine government asks for our help I think we should give it to them.

SHELBY: We have a special relationship with the Philippines. And as President Bush has said all along, we're going to go after the terrorists wherever they are. We have no choice. This could take years, Wolf. It's going to take a lot of money and, as we have found out, it's going to take a lot of casualties.

BLITZER: Senator Kerry, a poll, a recent poll, a CNN-USA Today Gallup Poll, we asked the American public whether they would support specific action. Look at this: 77 percent said they would support military action against Iraq; 71 percent against Iran, and 62 percent against targets in Somalia.

But it looks like the American public, if the U.S. government decided to do it, would be ready to support military action against Saddam Hussein. Are you?

KERRY: Well, I'm for focusing on Saddam Hussein. I've been saying that for a long period of time. I criticized the prior administration a number of years ago for pulling back from the intensity of focus on the inspections. When Ambassador Butler came back and the United Nations was focused, I thought that was the moment we should have kept the pressure on.

There was no rationale for dropping that pressure then. There is no rationale for not having that pressure on now. On the contrary, there's a greater rationale to have it, because we know, through intelligence, of increasing activities that Saddam Hussein has been involved in with respect to weapons of mass destruction.

I've just come back, as has Dick Shelby, from visiting with leaders in that region and in various parts of the world there. We didn't quite have the same journey.

But I've met with leaders in the Middle East, and it's very clear to me that they have no use particularly for Saddam Hussein. They believe he is dangerous. But they raise some very serious questions about the order of priorities and how we might do what we choose to do in Iraq, and I think there are some serious preconditions to how we begin to focus on him.

One thing, in Israel today, clearly there is a very dangerous situation. And the Palestinian linkages, with respect to the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, other countries of which we rely, are real and important to whatever we might decide to do with respect to Saddam Hussein.

Secondly, there are many ways for us to proceed with respect to Saddam Hussein. That became very clear to me.

So I am absolutely for focusing on this man. His policies are dangerous, he is dangerous. But there are ways to do it that don't amount to some kind of immediate military choice, nor should that be the beginning step. There are other things we need to do first.

...The Tora Bora Flip Flop!

heeheeeeeee, good one CC!

Kerry, as of late, takes great debate in insulting the troops in Afghanistan. He refers to the battle as outsourcing. This was their country! Using a countries own forces to defeat the Taliban isn't outsourcing.

Cheney's smackdown of Edwards for not including Iraqis in the coalition was brilliant.

I too am tired of this Tora Bora canard. My suggestion:

GWB: Senator Kerry I am so proud of our military's performance in Afghanistan and Iraq. Their swift victories were awe inspiring. We have excellent Generals and I trust them to prosecute the war successfully. They have not let me down.

Your rant on Tora Bora is unfair and disrespectful, as were your insults to our allies and Prime Minister Alawie. The Generals in charge fought the battle using the assets that were available to them and I, for one, will not second guess them. One thing you should have learned in Viet Nam was that a war cannot be micro managed by a president in the White House. The only thing you seem to have learned is to CUT AND RUN!

The outsourced line is pathetic and Bush should call Kerry on it considering Kerry wants to outsource the defense of the United States

LOL!!!

By-the-by -- I term myself a "Constitutional Moralist."

I take nothing for granted in this battle for what is right in America. I will be contacting my local Republican headquarters to offer help in the "72 Hour Campaign"

NOW, though, I have a dance number ready for Election Night!