Now that's a dog. :-)
Posted on 09/23/2004 12:06:03 PM PDT by antifem
Kerry: Allawi's Take on Iraq Unrealistic
Thursday September 23, 2004 4:46 PM
AP Photo FLJC106
By NEDRA PICKLER
Associated Press Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Thursday that Iraq's Ayad Allawi was sent before Congress to put the ``best face'' on Bush administration policy.
Shortly after Allawi, the interim government's prime minister, gave a rosy portrayal of progress toward peace in Iraq, Kerry said the assessment contradicted reality on the ground.
``The prime minister and the president are here obviously to put their best face on the policy, but the fact is that the CIA estimates, the reporting, the ground operations and the troops all tell a different story,'' Kerry said.
Allawi told a joint meeting of Congress that democratic elections will take place in Iraq in January as scheduled, but Kerry said that was unrealistic.
``The United States and the Iraqis have retreated from whole areas of Iraq,'' Kerry told reporters outside a Columbus firehouse. ``There are no-go zones in Iraq today. You can't hold an election in a no-go zone.''
Kerry's remarks come one day after he told The Associated Press that President Bush's statement that a ``handful'' of people are willing to kill to stop progress in Iraq was a blunder that showed he was avoiding reality.
``George Bush let Osama bin Laden escape at Tora Bora,'' Kerry said in a brief interview Wednesday. ``George Bush retreated from Fallujah and other communities in Iraq which are now overrun with terrorists and threaten our troops. And George Bush said on the record we can't win the war on terror.
``And even today, he blundered again saying there are only a handful of terrorists in Iraq,'' Kerry said. ``I think he's living in a make believe world.''
Bush, campaigning in Pennsylvania on Wednesday, said: ``It's hard to help a country go from tyranny to elections to peace when there are a handful of people who are willing to kill in order to stop the process. And that's what you're seeing on the TV screens. You know, these people cannot beat us militarily.''
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Thursday, ``It only took 19 people to take down the World Trade Center towers and kill 3,000 people.'' He said that in Iraq, ``you've seen how a small number of suicide bombers can have a dramatic effect.''
Bush said Wednesday the insurgents ``use the only tool at their disposal, which is beheadings and death, to try to shake our will. They understand the nature of America. ... We weep when we think about the families affected by those who have been brutalized by these terrorists.''
Kerry's voice was scratchy and breaking from a cold on Wednesday. He canceled most public events for Thursday in Columbus and in Iowa to rest his voice, though his words were clear at the firehouse. The campaign said running mate John Edwards would take Kerry's place in Iowa.
Kerry spoke to the AP in West Palm Beach, Fla., shortly before boarding a flight to Columbus and after Vice President Dick Cheney delivered a scathing attack on the Democrat. Speaking to reporters after meeting with Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, Cheney argued that Kerry has a penchant for wavering that makes him a weak alternative to a ``steadfast leader, which is exactly what we have in President George W. Bush.''
``John Kerry gives every indication that his repeated efforts to cast and recast and redefine the war on terror and our operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, of someone who lacks the resolve, the determination and the conviction to prevail in this conflict,'' Cheney said. ``He has demonstrated throughout the course of this campaign that he lacks the clarity of vision and purpose necessary to lead our country during extraordinary times.''
Kerry said he has laid out ``steps to win the war, not to change, not to retreat, steps to win. George Bush is trying to fight a phantom here because he won't tell the American people the truth, so he sets up something that's not a real issue and attacks it.''
Bush ``missed a huge opportunity'' at the United Nations this week to try to persuade leaders of other nations to join the United States in Iraq and the broader anti-terror war, Kerry said.
``I don't think he's providing the leadership we need,'' Kerry said. ``I will do a better job of dealing with Iraq and winning the war and fighting the war on terror, period.''
In a day filled with rhetorical charges and countercharges - at campaign stops and in advertising - all four candidates found fault. Responding to Cheney, Edwards said in a statement that Bush and Cheney ``are the last two people we need a lecture from about how to keep the American people safe.''
``It is the height of absurdity for Dick Cheney, a chief architect of the Iraq quagmire, to talk about the leadership needed to fix the mess in Iraq that he created,'' said Edwards, reviving a word - quagmire - often used to describe the Vietnam War.
Iraq and the war on terrorism is now the same battle!
Somebody got to him, and I'd like to know who the "mentor" was and who else in power took those classes.
I thought Kerry campaign's worst moment was when they appealed to the FEC to allow the collection of money for RECOUNT expenses!! Gee Kerry, why don't you just give up?
It's a shame this didn't get more publicity?
September has been a lot of fun for Kerry and his Kamikazis in his kamp.
October will be a lot fun for Komrade Kerry Koolaide drinkers with new and harder hitting Swift Vet Ads and the MSM melting down each day.
John F*ckin' keeps one-two punching himself in the face. Gotta love his Iraq-Is-Vietnam meme.
Yes, but he will still fight it better and smarter than George Bush.
Just think, just 40 more days of this freak. Ahmmm, 40 more days, 40 more days, 40 more days.
Which one, the idiot advisor or the idiot Kerry who actually starts flapping his yap without thinking about what he's actually saying?
Watching this dumb-ass self-destruct is just too good.
Just make sure you run them by CBS to make sure they are fake. :)
Now that's a dog. :-)
Today, the Democrat candidate for the US President publically insulted a visiting dignitary by calling him a liar......Prime Minister Allawi risks his life every day in Iraq...You, Mr. Kerry are an arrogant pr--k, Mr Allawi has more guts in his little finger than you do in your whole body.
Did you see Lieberman and Zell Miller sitting together on the front row, more or less alone? Interesting seating. And Allawi and Lieberman gave each other a very warm greeting. He shook hands with Zell, but I don't know if he knew who he was or not.
"BTW, Dutch Shepherd fan here."
WOW he/she is beautiful! Our Akita is named ISIS she is the best, loving addition to my family than I could have ever hoped for.
BTW, you are only the 2nd person who has said any thing about my ID. I don't think most have ever heard of Akita's. I used to do "Carry_Okie" too. LOL
If I can remember how to post pictures I'll post one of ISIS.
I do hope that the Bush-Cheney campaign puts out a press release today forcefully pointing out what you did, maybe in slightly more diplomatic terms.
I missed the entire thing as I was out from 9 until 2 today.
Looking at comments about Kerry's speech today, is it right that he called Rumsfeld and Allawi a liar?????
I was trying to be diplomatic...I had to tone it down...LOL
The best news is Kerry now has come full circle. He is back sitting in the chair that was set for him at the Fulbright committee.
Then is now, now is then. Good material for a Swiftie ad in here.
Correct. Along with the Secretary of State, Bush, Cheney and numerous others. And you and me. He specifically called out you, too bad you weren't home to hear it.
I think I have put my finger on the logic. If you don't agree with what John Kerry wants, you're a liar.
Does John Kerry realize that Iyad Allawi lives every day with the knowledge that he may die that day, and that he or any member of his family would be beheaded if they could get their hands on him? And this jerk is standing there and calling Allawi a liar? Un-freaking-believable.
I really need to set the VCR on Fox when I go out, from now until election day :-)
Maybe FNC will replay the better parts of it. Thanks so much for the update.
That be all he-dog.
The Dutch have got it right: level back, powerful shoulders, and a head supporting some real choppers. They don't pure-breed them either which cuts down the health problems in such a small breed. They occasionally mix in some Malinois and great dane (note the head and the brindling). They vary a lot in size with males from 80-120 pounds (even with those lean proportions). The bigger ones are becoming popular as cop dogs in target-rich environments like South Florida, because they have the power to bring down the oversized, PCP-crazed hoods they have down there. Ours is just a pet (not bite-trainded, and a bitch), but she's the finest property, watch, and kid-protection dog I could have ever asked for.
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