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Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Kerry's positions on Iraq have changed so much in the last month - since the Clinton people have apparently advised him to channel Dean - that I highly doubt the NYU speech is (1) what he even thinks today and (2) what he'll say during the debate.
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You guys like to say this, so I refer you back to the
article cited here by me and (noted lefty) Less in which the SF Chronicle's Washington bureau chief, Marc Sandalow, actually looked at Kerry's position over time -- instead of the GOP talking points you've been sucking up somewhere -- and reported that's he's been consistent over time. Moderate, so he gets attacked from both sides, and maybe too nuanced to make an effective presidential candidated, but consistent:
- No argument is more central to the Republican attack on Sen. John Kerry than the assertion that the Democrat has flip-flopped on Iraq.
* * * * *
Yet an examination of Kerry's words in more than 200 speeches and statements, comments during candidate forums and answers to reporters' questions does not support the accusation.
As foreign policy emerged as a dominant issue in the Democratic primaries and later in the general election, Kerry clung to a nuanced, middle-of-the road -- yet largely consistent -- approach to Iraq. Over and over, Kerry enthusiastically supported a confrontation with Saddam Hussein even as he aggressively criticized Bush for the manner in which he did so.
Kerry repeatedly described Hussein as a dangerous menace who must be disarmed or eliminated, demanded that the U.S. build broad international support for any action in Iraq and insisted that the nation had better plan for the post-war peace.
There were times when Kerry's emphasis shifted for what appear to be political reasons. In the fall of 2003, for example, when former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean surged to the top of Democratic polls based on an anti-war platform, Kerry's criticism of the president grew stronger. There are many instances in which clumsy phrases and tortuously long explanations make Kerry difficult to follow. And there are periods, such as last week, when the sharpness of Kerry's words restating old positions seem to suggest a change.
Yet taken as a whole, Kerry has offered the same message ever since talk of attacking Iraq became a national conversation more than two years ago.
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The UN approval line is a nice mantra and perhaps partially untrue. However, you have to love it that (1) he parrots the words of Kofi Annan (begging the question, is one of these men a puppet?) and (2) he promises to get additional aid from France and Germany - which is immediately rebuffed.
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It's completely untrue. I cannot believe that any major Democrat or Republican who thought the country was truly threatened would decline to act because he or she lacked UN approval. The real point is that the UN is a force multiplier, and we are stronger in the long run when we use it well.
