Posted on 10/08/2004 6:34:33 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
ST. LOUIS - In a debate rematch, President Bush defended his invasion of Iraq and said "I wasn't happy when we found there weren't weapons" that prompted his administration to go to war against Saddam Hussein. Democratic challenger John Kerry responded that Bush had made the world more dangerous "because the president didn't make the right judgments."
The commander in chief insisted that Saddam posed a unique threat and the world was safer without him in power. But Kerry answered that Bush's handling of the war had left Iraq in chaos.
Twenty-five days before the election, Bush and Kerry confronted each other aggressively in a town-hall session before an audience of 140 likely voters. Perched on stools, the candidates were quizzed in the gymnasium at Washington University in St. Louis.
Unlike last week's first debate, which focused on national security issues, Friday's faceoff was open to all subjects.
Criticizing the president's decision to invade Iraq, Kerry said, "If we'd use smart diplomacy, we could have saved $200 billion and an invasion of Iraq and right now Osama bin Laden might be in jail or dead. That's the war on terror."
The debate came a day after the chief U.S. arms inspector reported that Saddam did not have illicit weapons nor the means to make them. Bush said, "We didn't find out he didn't have weapons till we got there."
The debate - the second of three - opened with a question to Kerry about whether he was too wishy-washy. Kerry turned that question into an attack against Bush, saying that the president had turned his campaign "into a weapon of mass deception," claiming that the four-term Massachusetts senator had changed his mind when he had not.
"I can see why people think he changes a lot," Bush retorted, "because he does." He pointed out that Kerry had said he had voted for an $87 billion appropriation for Iraq and Afghanistan before he voted against it.
Kerry used the opportunity to point out that the nation has suffered a net job loss under Bush.
Now Kerry's lying about co-pays...
Watch what you wish for Kerry- if you graduate more students in the sciences and engineering your liberal-breeding journalist schools won't have as many new kids to keep you neck deep in propagandists.
"I own a timber company"? heh
The big Kahuna that said he was going to stop all outsourcing, when questioned by the moderator, how he was going to do this with tax cuts, that tax cuts won't get it when a programer is paid $12.00 in China and $56.00 in America. Kerry said you can't stop all outsourcing.
Well, do I detect yet another Flip-flop?
Yeah, ha. Want some free wood?
I'll have two Belgian Waffles, please.
DAMN, Bush is sooo good tonite, watch the msm call it a draw
Would you like some butter with that waffle to make it easier to slide from side to side? Ha.
Kerry's not so articulate tonight, a lot of uh, uh, well, uh, uh.
Bush is getting taller as the debate goes on.
Yes he is and Kerry is stammering more.
Something about if you're a Red Sox fan you probably love the environment. It was when they were discussing the environment. It didn't make sense to me, but then most of what Kerry says doesn't make sense.
I wasn't aware that giving Iraq 12 years to comply was rushing into war as Kerry says.
For someone who is big on solving everthing with diplomacy instead of force, Kerry says as president he will hunt down and kill the terrorists. Can someone tell me if being killed by use of diplomacy is a painful death?
Bush should have told him that he was confused again...football doesn't come on until Monday night (arm chair quarterback reference), but there probably is a baseball game on ESPN if he wants to talk about spitballs.
Yeah...that's the ticket...we'll kill them with kindness...r-i-i-i-ght!
NEDRA PICKLER bump.
This was written for the bulldog editions of Saturday newspapers. It's better for them to have a story about the first third of the debate than to not mention it at all.
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