Reply #130: This reminds me of the circular arguments presented on this board [View All]

[bigtree]

(my impression of the dialogue)

Ritter: You voted to go to war.

Kerry: I didn't authorize the president to unilateraly invade and occupy Iraq. I expected the president to honor the restraint mandated in the resolution. I expected the president to exhaust all possible diplomatic means and work in concert with the Security Council to enforce U.N. Res.1441. We were able to get inspectors on the ground (Hans Blix). President Bush forced them out by pushing past Congress, the American people, and the international community in his rush to war.

Ritter: But you voted to go to war. Why did you vote for the war in Iraq?

Kerry: The resolution didn't authorize what the president ultimately did.

Ritter: But you didn't return my letters and my phone calls. I told you that the WMD evidence was phony.

Kerry: With all due respect, you weren't in the briefings. The same evidence that the skeptical international body accepted as valid was presented to us by the Secretary of State and others that Saddam possessed massive amounts of chemical and biological weaponry and was in the process of restarting its nuclear program.

Ritter: But I wrote an article for Arms Control Today. I sent one to you. Why didn't you read my article? I wrote that there was no imminent threat.

Kerry: I took all of what I had available and I concluded that there was enough material presented to warrant working with the U.N. Security Council to further pressure Saddam to come clean and allow inspectors back in. Without inspectors on the ground we're just speculating. Inspectors (Hans Blix) could verify. I voted to get the U.N. inspectors allowed back in backed up by the threat of U.S. force.

Ritter: But why did you vote for the war in Iraq?