Kerry on Iraq

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-21-2004
Kerry on Iraq
16
Wed, 09-22-2004 - 2:24am

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2004_0920.html


Here are the main points from Kerry's speech on Iraq yesterday:



  • The war on Iraq was a mistake -- war was unnecessary because the inspections were working: "Today, President Bush tells us that he would do everything all over again, the same way. How can he possibly be serious? Is he really saying that if we knew there were no imminent threat, no weapons of mass destruction, no ties to Al Qaeda, the United States should have invaded Iraq? My answer is no -- because a commander in chief's first responsibility is to make a wise and responsible decision to keep America safe."
  • Iraq distracted from the war on terror: "The president claims it is the centerpiece of his war on terror. In fact, Iraq was a profound diversion from that war and the battle against our greatest enemy, Osama bin Laden and the terrorists. Invading Iraq has created a crisis of historic proportions and, if we do not change course, there is the prospect of a war with no end in sight."
  • President Bush misled us about the reasons for the war before it occurred: "He failed to tell the truth about the rationale for going to war. And he failed to tell the truth about the burden this war would impose on our soldiers and our citizens. By one count, the president offered 23 different rationales for this war."
  • President Bush is still misleading people about Iraq, painting an optimistic picture directly contradicted by his own intelligence officials: "In June, the president declared, 'The Iraqi people have their country back.' Just last week, he told us: 'This country is headed toward democracy. Freedom is on the march.' But the Administration's own official intelligence estimate, given to the president last July, tells a very different story. According to press reports, the intelligence estimate totally contradicts what the president is saying to the American people."
  • Bush went to war for ideological reasons and consistently misjudged the situation on the ground: "This president was in denial. He hitched his wagon to the ideologues who surround him, filtering out those who disagreed, including leaders of his own party and the uniformed military. The result is a long litany of misjudgments with terrible consequences. The administration told us we'd be greeted as liberators. They were wrong. They told us not to worry about looting or the sorry state of Iraq's infrastructure. They were wrong. They told us we had enough troops to provide security and stability, defeat the insurgents, guard the borders and secure the arms depots. They were wrong. They told us we could rely on exiles like Ahmed Chalabi to build political legitimacy. They were wrong. They told us we would quickly restore an Iraqi civil service to run the country and a police force and army to secure it. They were wrong. In Iraq, this administration has consistently over-promised and under-performed. This policy has been plagued by a lack of planning, an absence of candor, arrogance and outright incompetence. And the president has held no one accountable, including himself."
  • John Kerry has a four-point plan to fix our Iraq policy:


    • "First, the president has to get the promised international support so our men and women in uniform don't have to go it alone. It is late; the president must respond by moving this week to gain and regain international support. The president should convene a summit meeting of the world's major powers and Iraq's neighbors, this week, in New York, where many leaders will attend the U.N. General Assembly. He should insist that they make good on that U.N. resolution. He should offer potential troop contributors specific, but critical roles, in training Iraqi security personnel and securing Iraq's borders. He should give other countries a stake in Iraq's future by encouraging them to help develop Iraq's oil resources and by letting them bid on contracts instead of locking them out of the reconstruction process."
    • "Second, the president must get serious about training Iraqi security forces. The president should urgently expand the security forces training program inside and outside Iraq. He should strengthen the vetting of recruits, double classroom training time, and require follow-on field training. He should recruit thousands of qualified trainers from our allies, especially those who have no troops in Iraq. He should press our NATO allies to open training centers in their countries. And he should stop misleading the American people with phony, inflated numbers."
    • "Third, the president must carry out a reconstruction plan that finally brings tangible benefits to the Iraqi people. One year ago, the administration asked for and received $18 billion to help the Iraqis and relieve the conditions that contribute to the insurgency. Today, less than a $1 billion of those funds have actually been spent. I said at the time that we had to rethink our policies and set standards of accountability. Now we're paying the price. Now, the president should look at the whole reconstruction package, draw up a list of high visibility, quick impact projects, and cut through the red tape. He should use more Iraqi contractors and workers, instead of big corporations like Halliburton. He should stop paying companies under investigation for fraud or corruption. And he should fire the civilians in the Pentagon responsible for mismanaging the reconstruction effort."
    • "Fourth, the president must take immediate, urgent, essential steps to guarantee the promised elections can be held next year. If the president would move in this direction, if he would bring in more help from other countries to provide resources and forces, train the Iraqis to provide their own security, develop a reconstruction plan that brings real benefits to the Iraqi people, and take the steps necessary to hold credible elections next year -- we could begin to withdraw U.S. forces starting next summer and realistically aim to bring all our troops home within the next four years."

You can read the whole speech at:


http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/speeches/spc_2004_0920.html

Donna

Patriotism means to stand by the Country. It does not mean to stand by the President. -- Theodore Roosevelt.

Donna

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-11-2004
In reply to: donita_60
Wed, 09-22-2004 - 3:20am
Yes Kerry gave his speech but what did he say? Nothing! This man has his own agenda, to be president and have everyone fall to their knees and bow. If you have followed Kerry thru his political life you will see a pattern emerge. He is one of the most liberal Senators in Congress along with Kennedy, and Byrd who is so senial he spits when he talks. As for going to the UN they are worthless. Find out about the blood for oil fiasco where some of their members stole money intended for food to the Iraqi people. Saddam took this money and bought liquor for his soldiers and squandered the rest for himself.

Kerry has no plan other than to get us all killed.
Avatar for claddagh49
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-20-2004
In reply to: donita_60
Wed, 09-22-2004 - 9:14am
Hogwash! Bush is a Liar. Whenever he opens his mouth he spits out everything good he has planned to help us, and then does the opposite. Read this http://www.gwbush04.com/contentx.php?f=ontheissues
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-21-2004
In reply to: donita_60
Wed, 09-22-2004 - 10:53am

Kerry has no plan other than to get us all killed.


Excuse me, but we already have a president like that. Kerry wants to stop the killing. All part of being "liberal" which by the way is not a dirty word as "neoconservative" is.


This man has his own agenda


Yes, that is what the speech was about, his agenda for iraq. Did you even read it? You had no comment on the actual substance of the speech except about the UN. Whether you or I like everything about the UN, we are part of a world full of other countries and we do need their help now. Bush got up in front of them yesterday and asked for their help yesterday and was pretty much ignored. Just like half of America, they don't trust him either. He is a liar and a warmonger. Why should anyone trust him? Oh, yes, I forgot, "Iraq is free now."

Donna
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-21-2004
In reply to: donita_60
Wed, 09-22-2004 - 10:57am

Thanks for the link, and just in case anyone wants to read it here, the text you referred

Donna
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-22-2003
In reply to: donita_60
Wed, 09-22-2004 - 11:13am
Thanks Donna for posting Kerry's speech. HOpefully now some people can tell the difference between Bush and Kerry's plan in bringing stability in Iraq and that is Kerry has one...and Bush will just "stay the course".
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
In reply to: donita_60
Wed, 09-22-2004 - 12:13pm


...once more proving that the only way to support Kerry is to attack Bush.

There just aren't enough ignorant, hate-filled American voters to elect Kerry.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2004
In reply to: donita_60
Wed, 09-22-2004 - 12:14pm
You forgot to mention that this is his 10th position on Iraq in the last 5 months.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-11-2004
In reply to: donita_60
Wed, 09-22-2004 - 12:15pm
Have you ever been in the military? Do you know what it is like? Well my husband spent 34 years defending people who do not appreciate the freedoms we enjoy. Kerry has had a political agenda from the beginning. If people knew how war records were written up they would know that the commanding officers write up their own fitness reports. They can apply for their own medals and they can go to the px and buy them. Four months in Viet Nam with a silver star, a bronze medal and four purple hearts is ridiculous. Senators Bob Dole and John McCain have only one purple heart and they spent years earning them. Dole almost died and McCain spent years as a pow. They are the heroes not Kerry who like Jane Fonda(Hanoi Jane) went and helped the enemy by supporting the North Vietnamese. You don't consort with the enemy while men are dying. He didn't throw his real medals away anyway because then he couldn't brag about them. He threw away fakes just like almost all of them did. We were there. We were called baby killers, and spat upon. Kerry is a fake with no agenda but himself. You don't call your fellow brothers who are fighting killers, and accuse them of committing war crimes. True veterans despise his tactics and know that a man who turns on his own will do anything to get what he wants.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-20-2004
In reply to: donita_60
Wed, 09-22-2004 - 12:16pm
Kerry's "plan" for America is subjugation by the UN and retreat.

Pretty much the same as it was 30+ years ago when he deserted and betrayed his country.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-21-2004
In reply to: donita_60
Wed, 09-22-2004 - 3:25pm

You are entitled to your opinion. The fact is that however Kerry got his medals he got them the same way everyone else does and he was there fighting, risking his life, where the current resident of the white house did not. It is all ancient history. And I do know vets who dispise this war and GWB so your opinion and your friends are not the only ones out there.


Kerry spoke the truth when he got home from the VN war, as few others would do. For that he is vilified? I realized it may have hurt those in captivity but blame that on the captors, not on the truth telling of someone who saw what was going on and wanted to change it. I don't know anyone who thinks that was a war worth fighting. Those poor guys risked and "gave" their lives for a mistake as others are doing today.

Donna

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