September 24, 2004
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the Massachusetts senator argued that Bush's leadership would not deliver success.
"The president says that things are getting better in Iraq, and we must just stay the same course," he said. "Well, I disagree. They're not getting better. And we need to change the course to protect our troops and to win."
"A president's true test of leadership is how he responds when things are going wrong," Kerry added. "You need to be prepared to tell the truth, and I think a president who fails to admit his mistakes is a president who proves that he doesn't know how to make the course correct."
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Kerry said the Bush administration was "in disarray," noting that the president's remark Wednesday that Iraq was plagued by a handful of terrorists contradicted Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's previous statements that the country had attracted many terrorists, as well as Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's acknowledgment this week that terrorists were "pouring" into Iraq.
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"It's a disgrace that the secretary of Defense doesn't tell the truth to the American people, and it's a disgrace that this president doesn't hold anybody in his administration accountable for failure," he said. "These are not small miscalculations. These are miscalculations that are costing lives — costing America's reputation in the world."
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Kerry maintained that Iraq faced widespread instability that threatened the ability to hold elections in January. He said that he read a "devastating" account from a former deputy director of the Coalition Provisional Authority on Wednesday stating that reconstruction aid was not being distributed in the country and that unemployment was rampant.
"I want democracy to take hold," Kerry said. "But at the moment, I think most people would tell you that the United States and the Iraqis have retreated from whole areas of Iraq. There are no-go zones in Iraq today. You can't hold an election in a no-go zone."
The senator reiterated his call for Bush to seek more assistance from the international community to stabilize Iraq, mocking his trip this week to the United Nations as insufficient. "The president skedaddled out of New York so quickly, he barely had time to talk to any leaders," he said.
I hate Kerry.
Iraqi's have retreated from whole areas of Iraq!!???
Gee, that makes sense.
What remains in those "areas", Mr. Kerry? Rabbits and desert squirrels??
This statement proves what a moron candidate the Democrats put up in the 2004 election.