Kerry Comes Under Fire for Stance on Iraq

[PfcHammer]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&u=/latimests/20040509/ts_latimes/kerrycomesunderfireforstanceoniraq&printer=1

Kerry Comes Under Fire for Stance on Iraq

27 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Los Angeles Times to My Yahoo!

By Matea Gold and Michael Finnegan Times Staff Writers

In a speech nine days ago in Missouri, Sen. John F. Kerry laid out his case against President Bush (news - web sites) on Iraq (news - web sites), saying the administration had left America dangerously isolated from the rest of the world.

But the presumed Democratic nominee did not mention the brewing international furor over the mistreatment of Iraqi detainees by U.S. soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison, an issue that seemed ready-made to bolster his critique.

The Massachusetts senator's initially guarded response to the scandal underscores the delicate balancing act he faces in calibrating his reactions to developments in Iraq.

Though setbacks for the U.S. may strengthen Kerry's assertion that Bush is mishandling the conflict, any criticism he makes of the military effort threatens to undermine the Democrat's portrayal of himself as a national security hawk who unflinchingly backs U.S. troops, political experts said. At the same time, some analysts said, Kerry has not made full use of the opportunity to present himself as a viable alternative.

<whack>

[trumad]

1. Oh Horseshit

Asking Rumsfeld to resign ain't enough?:shrug:... Kerry knows exactly what he's doing... Let Dubya and their gang implode without lifitng a finger... That's all he's got to do... Plus... I don't get these hit pieces... How come they don't mention Kerry's new lead in the polls????

[RC]

7. Bull shit

Karry voted for this war. What is his stance now? Anyone know? Has he said anything about the war crimes we are committing in Iraq? Why not?
This mess could chew Kerry up and spit him out also.

[Merlin]

11. Yes we do know his stance. Read the speech he gave.

It outlines a plan for having NATO move in immediately and turning over control and decision making to NATO, as an interim stabilizing force, then pursuing the development of a broader multinational peacekeeping force with the UN.

[maddezmom]

16. or download and watch it at CSPAN

Sen. John Kerry address on Foreign Policy 4/30/04
http://www.c-span.org/

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

19. Fair enough, but....

Will NATO do it? I think this is an unknown quantity.

Pros- economic development opportunities and regional stability.

Cons- explaining to parents why their children are dead.


:shrug:


Edit:

NATO Balking at Iraq Mission

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x542150

[Journeyman]

26. Maybe NATO would if Kerry were President. . .

from the article:

"But amid continuing bloodshed and strong public opposition to the occupation in many nations, allies want to delay any major commitment until after the U.S. presidential election in November, officials say." (emphasis added)

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

30. And...

But officials of several allied countries said that even if NATO accepts a role at that time, it is more likely to be a supporting one, such as training police or dealing with unexploded ordnance, rather than peacekeeping. Guarding Iraq's borders, another proposal, also may be rejected as too ambitious, some officials say.

My point it that NATO's involvement is uncertain enough to not bank on it. There needs to be a Plan B.

[dax]

33. NATO will join once we release control of assets and reverse privatization

IF US govt quits stealing Iraq assets UN and NATO would come in immediately- especially if Bushco recognized the International Court and recommitted to the Geneva Conventions we now violate with impunity. There is no other way to get out- they will not accept occupation and indentured servitude regardless of how brutal our forces become. do you think the people who fought the Mongols and Turks and Crusades are gonna fold for US? They want freedom and we offer them slavery. The current mantra is "Saddam was better".

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

41. Maybe.

Maybe not.

[Kitsune]

24. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

In other words, I don't think ANY foreign occupier is going to do any stabilizing in Iraq, not after what we've been doing. After a year of brutal occupation by one foreign country, are you going to turn yourself over to ANOTHER one? It doesn't matter who's there, the Iraqis aren't going to stop trying to kick them out.

That's IF we can convince NATO or the UN to clean up our mess, which is not necessarily guaranteed.

[leesa]

31. NATO, a stabilizing force??

I guess in warhawk fantasyland maybe.

[readmylips]

38. NATO announced today....No Go...

until after the November elections. No help to elect bush.

[Emillereid]

40. According to the LA Times this morning NATO doesn't want

the job. I've got a position for Kerry -- US troops out of Iraq now, pay the Iraqi people reparations, issue an apology to the rest of the world and beg to be allowed back into the 'family of nations.' If Iraq needs so called peace keeping troops let the United Nations get people from countries not involved in any way with the original invasion. The soldiers that destroyed Iraqi and killed and maimed so many of its people can never turn around and be 'peace keepers.'

[Nlighten1]

39. Kerry should be pouring gasoline on the fire.

Instead it seems like he is trying to aid them by being quiet.

[Norquist Nemesis]

2. Cowshit too!

I don't recall anything coming from the WH about the photographs nine days ago either. And they knew that it was coming! :eyes:

[0007]

22. Cat Shit

and we know how stinky that can smell. And I do love my two cats.

I still have my doubts about Kerry, and some of his feeling toward some South American counties.

[maddezmom]

3. dog shit

some analysts said bush should have apologized from the start and bush missed an opportunity to present himself as taking responsiblity...ya know the buck stops at the oval office.

[saigon68]

10. chicken shit

Meyers is working overtime to keep the lid on this. According to MSNBC the "PICTURES
AREN'T EVEN IN DC YET"

What a Freaking LIE. They could send a Giga bite of data in 2 seconds for heaven sakes ---do
they believe we are that STOOPID ??

NeoCon Fucking liars posing as Generals



Next week or the week after next the NEOCON Generals plan to let a few select congressMEN
see them..

Then after the congressMEN go on TV with their usual outrage statements THE PENTAGON
will decide what to do next.

I hope the DINOS and others keep the heat on these CRIMINALS IN UNIFORM

[wubbathompson]

15. POPPY COCK

I agree, but I've really just been looking for an excuse to say poppy cock

[expatriot]

27. MOMMY COCK

Happy Mother's Day.

With love,
S. Freud

[molly]

4. Let's face it - Kerry comes under attack no matter

what....they are scared shitless of him.

:kick: :kick: :kick:

[CJCRANE]

5. Mild criticism

from a couple of professors is not exactly "under fire"!

[Democat]

6. Kerry is always under fire from the right wing media (including Yahoo!)

Fuck them.

[The Zanti Regent]

8. More Nazi Republican propaganda from the Lies Angeles Times

When Kerry is elected, the first theing he should do is reinstate the Fairness Doctrine and break the media into so many pieces that it will never be a Nazi monolith again!

[colonel odis]

9. that's the best idea i've heard all day re fairness doctrine n/t

[Merlin]

12. Fairness Doctrine restoration has to be a top priority.

If we can get it restored, we can

Flush Rush!

[Baltimoreboy]

13. How would you apply the Fairness Doctrine to the web?

Seems like a complex problem.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. Curious question from a new poster....

...how many different news, opinion, and message board websites are on the Net? How many cater to each of the following political stances: liberals, conservatives, greens, libertarians, Dems, Repubs, nazis, socialists, communists, etc.?

Do you see ANY cornering of the political marketplace on the Net like you see among the captive conservative mainstream press?

If the Net was controlled by a single political belief, then you could apply the Fairness Doctrine. But it isn't controlled by a single political force, is it?

[Adelante]

17. Welcome to DU, Baltimoreboy

:hi:

[colonel odis]

42. the fairness doctrine only applies to broadcast.

the web and newspapers don't have to comply because anyone can start a paper or a web site. there's an endless supply.

the fairness doctrine applies to broadcast because they belong to the public. allegedly. there's a finite supply of broadcast signals, though i'm sure broadband/cable/etc has changed that.

but that was the thinking behind the old fairness doctrine. besides, most right-wingrs don't read. they listen to talk radio and watch fox news to get their marching orders.

[Solidarity]

25. Fairness Doctrine

Will John Kerry do that? What has he said on the matter and also the Freedom of Information Act? I haven't seem any comments or pledges from Kerry on what he will do on either issue if he is elected.

[paulk]

34. I've got an idea...

google "John Kerry fairness doctrine"

then

google "John Kerry freedom of information act"

[IndianaGreen]

18. Didn't Kerry say to "stay the course" in Iraq?

What the hell did you think that mean but to continue the occupation and the rape of the Iraqi people?

Torture under new management!

Nothing short of an immediate and unconditional withdrawal from Iraq will do now!

[kentuck]

20. Kerry needs to let surrogates speak for him on some issues....

Why give them a reason to distract from this story and attack him for making it "political."?

[IndianaGreen]

21. Kerry needs to ditch his Nixonian "de-Americanization" of Iraq

and just get the heck out of there as fast as we can move the troops out. Hint: Do what Zapatero did in Spain!

When it comes to Kerry and Iraq, the message sucks and the messenger is wrong!

[liveoaktx]

23. Kerry is not running this country.. yet.. and is among CONGRESS who

was NOT properly notified about the abuse. If CONGRESS in both houses were royally ired that the notification about the abuses came via a low-key press conference around the same time as Janet Jackson's boob incident, and did NOT include any SPECIFIC briefings by Rumsfeld, although he had the chance, why in the world should Kerry be held responsible?????

This is to deflect attention from the one who SHOULD be held accountable and that is Bush. Let's put it this way. Why, since Bush knew about this since January, did HE not get his monkey face on the tv and tell the public about this? You know, act as a leader instead of a bus-rider?

[bleedingheart]

28. Like all of us, Kerry doesn't know what else is going to come out

and so I think that he has to be careful not to offend our soldiers or make sweeping statements until more information is known.

Right now my head is swimming with info overload...so I can't imagine how crazy it must be for him....I also think that if we give Bush enough rope he will hang himself politically.

[Solidarity]

43. Offend The Soldiers?

You think John Kerry will offend the Iraq GI's if he says he will bring them all home within 60 days of becoming President? I think he will offend more soldiers by indicating he will "stay the course" in Iraq and keep our soldiers there.

If all you need to do is give Bush rope to hang himself it probably isn't necessary for Kerry to speak out on any important issue. He can just sit home and wait for the election results!

[cosmicone]

29. Kerry's team needs to look into this

What I found interesting was that General Miller of Guantánamo fame was assigned to take over the prisons in Iraq. It has now come out that it was Gen. Miller's idea to let the MPs "soften up" prisoners for interrogation -- so it is ironic that he would be assigned to "clean up" the mess. He will probably just clean up evidence!

However, I don't know if anyone else would make the same connection as I with THIS story. The military chaplain was arrested for carrying "documents" from Guantánamo -- the full extent of the documents was never revealed. The military finally dropped all the charges in order to NOT let that case go to court martial.

Could it be that Capt. Yousef Yee was carrying pictures of prisoner torture at Guantánamo? If the evidence was strong, why was he not court martialed? Someone needs to look into this.

[union_maid]

32. Wes Clark is pointing right to Bush

And that is Kerry's team, folks. He was just on MTP, basically saying that it's the policies, direct, stated policies of this administration that led to this abuse. He was not all that interested in seeing the buck stop with Rummmy, either.

[glitch]

36. you may be right oh cosmic one

edited to add: the porn on his computer may've been his evidence.

and welcome to DU!

[RedEarth]

35. Typical post by kittie

[nolabels]

37. Typical article by LAT

They have days when they are little left and days when they are little (or a lot) on the right. Today the paper looked like one of those on the right days. It's more about circulation than it is about credibility, it is funny how how some like to blame problems they helped create on things not really connected to the story.

HEY LOS ANGELES TIMES HOW ABOUT SOME QUESTIONS FOR GEORGE W. BUSH ON THIS ABUSE DEBACLE

[Just Me]

44. Forming intelligent "positions" would be,...good in politics,...

I am so sick of language like "stay the course" or "instilling democracy" or "pulling in/pulling out".

Oh,...blah,...basic human principles are apparently worthless in these days of power-grabbing, greedy, stingy and mostly fearful and angry crap that is expressed in "politics".

Democratic governance has been injured, once again, by the weakest and most damaging examples of humanity. How many times do we, humanity, have to go through this example to learn that we can do better? We have got to do better in bridling those who have a bottomless appetite for power: who cannot handle equality or mutual respect and dignity and value.

[Citizen Daryl]

45. So the Pugs are attacking Kerry for BELIEVING Bush

*slamming my head against the wall*