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Posted on 11/19/2005 5:57:13 PM PST by Former Military Chick
Nov. 19, 2005 — - Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., believes U.S. troops do not necessarily need to be pulled out of Iraq right away, as a senior Democrat suggested this week, but they need more leadership from the Bush administration.
"What we need is a little more commander-in-chief, and a little less campaigner-in-chief," Kerry said in an exclusive interview on "Good Morning America Weekend Edition."
The question of whether or not troops should be withdrawn from Iraq moved to the front burner Thursday when Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., called for all the troops to be withdrawn immediately -- a call that drew charges of recklessness from the Bush administration. Vice President Dick Cheney called Murtha's press conference "reprehensible."
Members of the House of Representatives debated late into Friday night and voted down a resolution to pull the troops out of Iraq by 403-3. Although most Democrats did not support Murtha's call, Kerry, who lost the 2004 presidential election to Bush, said Murtha did not deserve to be called names like "coward" by allies of the administration.
"It's just the attack politics: The people are sick and tired of it," Kerry said. "You don't call John Murtha a coward. … I mean, Dick Cheney had five deferments in a row in Vietnam, when John Murtha went to serve."
Murtha, Kerry said, has simply added to the debate. Kerry said the Bush administration needs to outline a clear plan about what benchmarks must be reached in order to bring the troops home.
"You can differ on the policies, and we should talk about the policy," Kerry said. "The administration has continuously misled Americans about our presence. We need to have the debate and figure out how we bring our troops home in a responsible way. John Murtha is really just adding to the debate in a very personal way. This man's statements have to be taken seriously even if you don't agree with his policy."
Kerry said the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, sent a plan to the Pentagon that outlined a timetable for withdrawal. The president of Iraq also said he had a plan to bring home 50,000 troops by Christmas. Kerry said that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld also had originally said some troops would be brought home.
Kerry added that the Bush administration was wrong to suggest that calling for a plan to bring the troops home will endanger the troops.
"Let me tell you what is endangering our troops: Sending our troops to war without adequate armor endangers our troops," Kerry said, "not guarding the ammo dumps, so that our troops are now being hurt because of ammo that wasn't properly secured when we took Baghdad. What endangers our troops is sending them to war without adequate numbers of troops to do the job."
Kerry said he has a plan to bring 20,000 troops home by Christmas. He said that if the election and referendum in Iraq are successful, troops should be brought home because the election would act as a benchmark of the troops' success.
"They deserve leadership that is equal to their sacrifice," he said. "The president doesn't have a real plan."
Although he may have sounded as if he were campaigning, Kerry said he's leaving the door open when it comes to running for president in 2008.
He said the more immediate question is how the troops will be protected. It's time, he said, to hand over some responsibility.
"Let Iraqis stand up for Iraq," Kerry said.
Thanks. You really do need kudos for not smacking the heck out of the jerk. Yes, he deserved it but if you had broken his nose we would have heard stories about his purple heart rhinoplasty.
Isn't it amazing that the President has no plan, yet about every six months the Iraqis hit another milestone, take another vote, write a consitution, ratify a constitution, etc. All of these things were outlined more than two years ago. The Iraqis have met every deadline except the constitution (of course ours took until almost 17 years) and they spent day after day hammering out a compromise until they got it done - then ratified it at 79%.
Their turnout has been better than our own. Their people are continuing to turn in the "insurgents" AND when the Sunnis saw that they were going to be marginalized by the elections, they started to campaign. The Military has done an outstanding job. They have had a mission and a goal. In a war there are no guarantees on any deadlines, yet we have managed to hit most of ours. We are rebuilding a nation from the ground up and their are 20 or 30 times more iragis who want peace and democracy than who want chaos.
I find it amazing that Kerry continues to say the President has no plans and THEN QUOTES THE PLAN AS A BENCHMARK GOAL THAT OUR TROOPS HAVE REACHED. Doh!!! So Mr. Kerry, America voted a little over a year ago and they voted to have President Bush run our War efforts. But nice try. Stick to your anti-war stance, throw somebody elses medals over the fence at the White House again - it's the closest you'll ever get to living there. Oh, and sign your 180, coward!
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Didn't he miss like 80% of the committee meetings?
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NEVER FORGET
JOHN KERRY returned from Vietnam to call us American Soldiers fighting for the Freedom of others there..
...rapists and terrorists,
...instead of the ones we were fighting.
MEL GIBSON returned from filming our real Vietnam War story titled
.."WE WERE SOLDIERS"..
...truly inspired to finally film his long planned ultimate story of LOVE & Sacrifice titled...
.."The PASSION of the Christ"
I wonder WHO got it right..?
Signed:.."ALOHA RONNIE" Guyer
Veteran-"WE WERE SOLDIERS" Battle of IA DRANG-1965, Landing Zone Falcon
http://www.lzxray.com/guyer_set1.htm
(Photos)
NEVER FORGET
.
Pre/war? Maybe. Probably out trying to keep windmills from being built near his Nantucket mansion.
Where is a hit man when we need one....: )
Nah, he's just asking to be ignored. It's pretty pathetic. Even in 1968, the Democrats must of had some sort of legistlative agenda.
"Nov. 19, 2005 — - Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., believes U.S. troops do not necessarily need to be pulled out of Iraq right away, as a senior Democrat suggested this week, but they need more leadership from the Bush administration. "
Kerry is scared silly because he is on the opposite side of the debate than his chief 2008 opponent Hillary. He is also afraid that the Senate Republicans are going to ask for the same vote.
Senator flip just flopped.... again.
"LET ME TELL YOU WHAT IS ENDANGERING OUR TROOPS."
"Kerry said he has a plan to bring 20,000 troops home by Christmas."
He's asking for way more than a smackdown.
This POS thinks he can tell America what is endangering our troops??!!! I DON'T THINK SO JOHN KERRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ooops...forgot to post the link!
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/11/20051119-5.html
I'll accept that apology.
But could you do it now?
I'm just kidding.
Memo: To John "Pus Bucket" Kerry:
It AIN'T the President's job to LEAD our Troops Overseas.
Letting someone plan strategy from the Oval Office of The White House is what SCREWED UP Vietnam for the Grunts in the Field... Or have you forgottten?
LEADING the Troops are what Lieutenants, Captains, Majors, Lt. Colonels, Full Colonels and all Tiers of Generals are for!
It's the Commander In Chief's JOB to Hold The Line and set a Standard Above Reproach for those in uniform under him. Especially the Grunt in the Field.
Something that the President is doing rather superbly.
You and your Surrender Monkey ilk have yet to figure out and understand why millions of men and women LOVE President Bush... More's the sad, sad, pity.
Jack.
Goodness gracious, Traitor Kerry is freaking tedious.
I see they left it.
I thought it was appropriate too.
Thank you.
Not much about this turd can make me laugh, but that just did.
How about if John Kerry gets his buddies, the French, to help out with training the Iraqi army. Show us his leadership skills.
They can be in charge of cooking, cleaning and some other easy jobs.
If John can't do anything more than talk about doing something, he should just shut up!
What we have here is a group of people, the anti-American Democrats who won't let us move on from Vietnam. They want to mire us in it. The level of their hatred for this country is sky effing high...
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