Posted on 05/14/2003 5:07:10 PM PDT by prairiebreeze
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry talked about war, health care, his rivals and his wife at an hour-long session Tuesday with USA TODAY and Gannett News Service reporters and editors. This is the first of a planned series of question-and-answer sessions with the Democratic presidential contenders. Excerpts from his remarks, which have been edited for length and clarity:
On health care
''We will get to universal coverage, but I'm not trying to sell a pipe dream here about what you get in the first five years. I'm doing this in a reasonable, thoughtful, affordable way, which addresses all of the concerns of health care.
''The crisis of health care is growing for everyone in America. It is not a crisis of the uninsured alone. It's a crisis of cost for the 163 million Americans who are covered through their employers, and it's a crisis of costs for the employers. I don't believe that any responsible plan can address the health care need in our nation without dealing with the question of cost.''
On Rep. Richard Gephardt's plan
''He spends $100 billion (more) on 2% difference in coverage. And he has nothing that lowers costs the way I do. So you're going to have the costs ratchet up every single year, and you're just pouring more money in the system. I don't think that's an effective way to go.''
On the war with Iraq (news - web sites)
''No one ever doubted our capacity to win a quick war in Iraq. After all, we designed a military to beat the Soviet Union and (fight) a war in Asia at the same time. This is not that complicated a military operation. It has been a complicated postwar management effort more than anything.
''I believe this administration would be well-advised to broaden its base of support in that effort, to minimize a sense of American operation, to minimize the targeting of American soldiers and to minimize the cost financially to Americans -- which is why I always argued there was greater strength in a broader diplomatic coalition.
''In Afghanistan (news - web sites) and Iraq, the United States military came across as well-trained, in fact very capable of having these swift military victories. It is very important for America's leadership to be very realistic about the nature of this war and the challenges of the future. We need to be very wary of becoming overextended or overconfident of how we project power as a consequence of the rapidity of our effort against Iraq. I think you have to be very cautious about overextending to other parts of the world.
''I also would say this underscores that the military that Bill Clinton (news - web sites) built up over the course of the last eight years was not a hollow military.''
On the war on terrorism
''The war on terror is far less the kind of operation we just ran in Iraq, and it is far more of an intelligence operation and a law enforcement operation. You have to know who is planning what, when, where and how, and you have to be able to go get them before they get you. (The attack in) Saudi Arabia is an example of that.
''The most important thing for the United States to do is to augment its intelligence and its cooperative capacity with other countries, because in the absence of our own people on the ground in many of these countries, we are going to rely on them for that knowledge. That requires a much higher level of engagement and cooperation than we currently have with the world.''
On President Bush (news - web sites)'s visit with troops on the Navy carrier USS Abraham Lincoln
''I am glad the president thanked the troops on that aircraft carrier.''
On the Bush administration's national security record
''I welcome a debate about their leadership with respect to foreign policy and their ability to make America safer. I believe that I can offer leadership that will in fact make Americans safer. Because I don't think you make America safer when you ignore North Korea (news - web sites) for almost a year and a half. I don't think you make America safer when you pull out of the Middle East for almost a year. I don't think that you promote the goodwill of the United States or our strength by withdrawing unilaterally and declaring dead a global warming (news - web sites) treaty, ignoring AIDS (news - web sites) in Africa for over two and a half years and not being engaged in the kind of foreign policy that builds relationships to make us safer.
''I have been on the Foreign Relations Committee for 18 years, and I have never seen the United States as isolated and denigrated as we are at this point. I am prepared as president to do anything necessary to defend my nation at any moment necessary, including the use of force if I deem that's the way to go. But I also know that we build strength in many other ways, and those ways, I think, this administration has frankly neglected.''
On his outspoken wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry
''She is a spectacular woman of great passion, concern, caring about people. She's honest. She just tells the truth. And I welcome that. I think it's refreshing. I think Americans think it's refreshing. She's not seeking a job. She's not looking for more work. She doesn't want to play some policy role at all in an administration. But she's very, very caring and concerned about where the country is going. And I think people are going to love her.''
Still afraid someone is going to not like us eh, Senator? Actually there isn't much substance in any of what Kerry says in the article. Except that his wife isn't looking for more work. Bwaahaaahaaa!
Prairie
The truth is the last thing a Democrat politicians welcomes. (Who does this guy think he's kidding?)
If anything convinced the terrorists that we were open to attack, I think it was the way that Bush and Cheney talked down the military during the campaign. I remember thinking at the time that publicly characterizing our military as weakened, unready, and demoralized was an invitation to attack.
We haven't taken out Al Quaeda as the attacks in Saudi Arabia have made clear. We haven't eliminated the Taliban in Afghanistan, for the Taliban and war lords it is back to business as usual outside of Kabul.
I would appreciate it if you would share with me what you've noticed in world reaction that indicates to you that the world "awoke real fast as to the power and might of our military and it gave them the message that enough is enough", because I don't see it, and I would like to.
I believe most of the world acknowledges that we can bomb any third world country back into the stone age. But the real test is can we master the peace? We haven't in Afghanistan and Iraq is hardly a done deal.
As for the rest, my point was simply that it was alarming to me that men running for president and vice president of the United States would tell the rest of the world that our military was weak. It sounded to me like an invitation to attack.
I believe that 911 was in the planning for years as do you. But I believe that the timing was flexible, that the plan was in place and waiting the right moment.
Do you really believe that? Just curious. You're saying the reason for the first World Trade Center bombing was Bush/Cheney? That 9/11 was a direct result of the Bush/Cheney campaign for the presidency?
That's freeking lefty crap you are spouting.
The real test is how many terrorist attacks within US Borders.
Real Americans (The red zone) could give a rats ass about how many mullas kill each other in third world lands or how many clay pots get crushed or stolen!
They want to know if grandma is safe or are the kids safe to fly home the next holiday.
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