Kerry believes Bush and Cheney invaded Iraq "because they could"...

[kentuck]

Furthermore, (paraphrasing) he said after all this time and no WMDs were found, it appears it was nothing more than a plan of the Neo-cons. When questioned by Chris Matthews about "why" they went into Iraq, Kerry said he believed they did it because they could and "they thought they could get away with it"... That is a powerful charge.
Kerry has put a new charge on the table...

[FlemingsGhost]

1. And the IWR gave them the authority to do so

John Kerry can't just sweep that off the table .

[eileen from OH]

3. Amen.

eileen from OH

[paulk]

7. Really?

Have you ever actually read the IWR?

Bush violated the "authority" Congress gave him, and if the Republicans didn't control the show he'd very likely be up on impeachment charges right now. Of course, if republicans didn't control all three branches of government, it's more than likely none of this would have even happened.

Why don't you blame Bush for this debacle we're involved in instead of using this thread as another opportunity to trash Kerry? Is that too much to ask, "DemsUnite"?

[FlemingsGhost]

10. Yes, I have read the IWR

There is plenty of blame to go around, paulk.

As well as placing blame on Bush, I will continue to remind folks of Kerry's vote, whether you like it or not.

There's always the ignore button...

[paulk]

13. Since you have read the IWR

You know that it did not give Bush the authority to do what he did, the way he did it. This constant blaming of Kerry for Iraq through his IWR vote is disingenuous at best, dishonest at worst.

I truly do not understand your motives for 'continuing to remind folks of Kerry's vote'. What purpose do you hope to achieve with such gratuitous bashing?

[Old and In the Way]

15. I think you know what the purpose is.

A direct frontal attack on Kerry would get him/her banned. They have to be very creative and quite busy to sustain the Bush is Kerry meme.

Getting paid by the post?

[FlemingsGhost]

18. LOL. First time I've been accused of being a Freeper!

That is what you are implying, right? Thanks for creative manner in which you stated the accusation.

:hi:

[FlemingsGhost]

17. Re: John Kerry and IWR

Kerry had to know what the PNACers had in mind when they put the IWR on the table. Hell, most of us at DU saw right through the scheme.

If he truly didn't know, he's naive and isn't fit to lead this nation.

So which is it? Naive, complicit or immoral via political ambition?

[paulk]

31. Who is fit to lead this nation?

Ralph Nader? GW Bush? Bill Van Auken? Who are you supporting this November?

[emulatorloo]

21. Thanks for the knee jerk reminder! Keep them coming!

It makes my day to hear about how IWR was an up down vote on war! Except that it wasn't!

[chelaque liberal]

27. Why? Do you want that people NOT vote for Kerry?

There are things I don't like about Kerry, the IWR being a big one, but I could overlook anything short of him being a convicted child molester.

Another 4 years of Bush is not an option.

[DemLikr]

30. with Kerry as nominee, we're going to get 4 more years of Bushco

sorry, that's the way I see it.

[Old and In the Way]

11. Well stated.

It truely is the cowards in the Republican majority who have allowed Bush to behave like a 15 year old who gets his liscense and thinks he's invincible. They have failed, as the majority party in Congress to hold Dimson accountable for his actions. Of course, it doesn't help to have Biden, Lieberman, and Miller sabotauging the Democrat's attempts to form a united front on this issue.

[paulk]

14. Lieberman and Zell -

:puke:

I caught Biden a few times on c-span last week and was actually impressed.

[Jack Rabbit]

2. Good.

I hope this was as emphatic as you make it sound.

Let's hope Kerry follows up with this with a general critique of the ivasion. He is not going to win the White House trying to convince people how much like Bush he is. We need someone as different from Bush as day is from night.

We can't stay the course in Iraq. How many more Fallujas must there be before we realize that the occupation means killing and subjugating the Iraqi poeple in the name of liberating them? We must leave that country to govern itself, sooner rather than later.

[bpilgrim]

4. SUPPORT OUR TROOPS - OUTSOURCE THE WAR

and the reTHUGs are FINANCING HALF that meme right now :evilgrin:

peace

[moondust]

5. You control all 3 branches of gov't. What do you do?

Whatever you want. Wet dreams come first.

[Dark]

6. It's good that he's finally denoucing the war.

But he's going to have to come up with a better reason than "because they could." No one, not even Bu$h, would invade a country just for the fun of it.

Here, Kerry. Try one of these:

-Popularity (He does emphasize that he's a war time president.)

-OIL (Halliburton. Need I say more?)

-Even a score for the old gipper. (No one tries to kill Pop)

-Hoping for a success to eclipse the job loss. ('Wag the Dog')

Come on, Kerry. Pick one. I like oil personally.

[kentuck]

8. He didn't say they did it just for the fun of it....

It was part of the Neo-cons plan....PNAC.

[Stephanie]

16. All wrong. It's global strategery, as envisioned by idiots.

It's all in service to a plan for US global domination. But this plan was created by Cheney and Kristol and Perle and Wolfowitz and Kissinger and a lot of other CERTIFIED IDIOTS.

I SERIOUSLY don't understand why these guys are viewed as some type of INTELLECTUALS. They are FREAKING STUPID.

But anyway, their plan is to dominate the ME, establish American hegemony, and challenge Korea, then China. It's a 50 YEARS WAR.

[oblivious]

9. They did it simply because it was "doable".

<snip> On Sept. 15, according to Bob Woodward?s Bush at War, ?Paul Wolfowitz put forth military arguments to justify a U.S. attack on Iraq rather than Afghanistan.? Why Iraq? Because, Wolfowitz argued in the War Cabinet, while ?attacking Afghanistan would be uncertain ? Iraq was a brittle oppressive regime that might break easily. It was doable.?

http://www.amconmag.com/03_24_03/cover.html

[priller]

12. Yes, lots of good targets, as Rumsferatu said

They point Kerry was making was:

-- The neo-con plan was to remake the Middle East by starting a democracy there, which would then spread to other places in the region.

-- Iraq was chosen for many reasons, but one of those was because it was weak, or "doable", as you say.

-- The WMD angle was emphasized "because it would sell", as Wolfowitz said in a rare bit of honesty.

IOW, they didn't think the American public would buy their neo-con agenda (maybe deep down they knew it was nutty, too?), so they pitched it in a different way that would "sell". Of course, now their sellable ideas have all turned out wrong, and America is left with this junker of a war.

[KG]

19. "because they could"..."

and because they knew that, save sen. robert byrd, no body on either side of the aisle had the moral or political courage to call them on their lies.

americans ought to be ashamed of the way this countrys leadership, kerry amongst them, failed them in 2003.

shameful.

[JPJones]

20. Gotta love the high post, no star, Kerry haters

Really, you'd be much happier at freerepublic, since you are doing their work for them.

[KG]

22. yeah, i really dig those low post kerry worshippers

their sad, little, adolescent insinuations are so much more amusing! :D

[Hubert Flottz]

23. I don't have a star anymore, because I'm Poor!

I sent what money I could send to some democrats who NEED the help I WAS able to give! I have also been supporting members of my own family who no longer have a job, thanks to G W Bush! A Star is not as important to me my country and my family is! That being said, Everyone seems to overlook the fact that the White House(Bush/Cheney lied to congress and to the American people over and over for two years leading up to this elective WAR(invasion and takeover)of Iraq! The Bushco propagandists LIED Repeatedly, to John Kerry also!

Do members of congress expect the president and vice president of the United States to stand up in front of the nation and do what Bush and Cheney did time after time? No the congress and we the people expect the president and vice president to tell the truth about matters that involve national security, because the president took an oath on the Bible to Truthfully and Faithfully SERVE and PROTECT America! BUSH/CHENEY and their power hungry toadies LIED AGAIN and AGAIN and BUSH/CHENEY and toadies are STILL LYING to congress and the American people today!

[JPJones]

24. I was only referring to the Kerry haters n/t

[Hubert Flottz]

26. Okay, I only hate selfish pigs who hate the American People!

Like Bush and Cheney and anyone who enables them to do the UN-American Trashy SHIT that they have been doing for three years! ALL Would be Dictators and their Ignorant Flunky Moran enablers Are Un-American Treasonous Bastards IMHO!

HELL NO I'm not better off now than I was three years ago!

[Jacobin]

25. Oh, ya want a star?

I don't hate Kerry. I'm very disappointed he voted for the IWR, and I'm voting for him in spite of that.

Time will tell whether he does an "LBJ" with IraqNam. If he does, you can bet I'll be working against his re-election in 2008. And I won't be alone.

Went through this shit 30 years ago.

[dusty64]

28. While I'm happy

to hear him bash the regime, this couldn't have happened if congress had objected. Also, if I'm not mistaken they HAVE gotten away with it and many "Democrats" are still defending that and will not say that it is a mistake.

[King_Crimson]

29. And when you are elected President...

Mr. Kerry...I would assume that you would have the whole filthy, bloodthirsty pack of vampires rounded up and put on trial for crimes against humanity and prosecuting an illegal war...eh, Mr. Kerry?? It would be the RIGHT thing to do sir!