Reply #4: Like Tay Tay and Beachmom said [View All]

[karynnj]

he does spell out why he voted as he did.

Kerry was one of the strongest voices in the summer and early fall arguing that Bush should go to Congress and to the UN. At that point, Bush was claiming that he could attack because of the resolution given that led to attacking Afghanistan. He moved a huge number of troops to the Persian Gulf.

Reading Kerry's IWR floor statement, one thing I notice is where he listed all the changes they got Bush to make in the resolution from the original language. These changes resticted it to Iraq and took out as reasons many subsequently used. From Kerry's post 2004 comments, he took these negotiations seriously. He said that if Bush went back on his word, he would be the first to protest - and he was one of the few who did before Bush invaded and after the invasion (approved by nearly 70% of the people).

Speaking out when he did counters the cynical political motive. How do you get political points for the war when you are LOUDLY on record and called anti-war (which he was labelled in early 2003)? Rather than cynical, the opposite was more likely true - Kerry was more willing to trust that a President would not lie on a matter as serious as war and peace. Kerry himself is said to be true to his word. He wasn't naive - the fact that he added the comment about speaking out implies he realized Bush could lie, but gave him the benefit of the doubt. He likely thought this was the best chance at derailing the march to war.

The importamnce of the promises - that he would exhaust the diplomacy and that it would be a last resort go to deeply held beliefs. In the Pepperdine College speech Kerry explains his understanding of St Augustine's concept of a just war - the first thing Kerry said is that war pretty much has to be a last resort to be just. That is why he refers to it as immoral.

Putting the Pepperdine College speech together with the IWR speech and memories of phrases of 2004 and Kerry's history, it is very unlikey that his vote was made for political reasons. The closest thing I have heard - not from Kerry - but from others was that this vote - either way - was a Rove trap. (There was a comment - I think from a Kerry friend or staffer, that this was a case of choosing between a Yes, but or a No, but vote.