This is Kerry's "plan" to end the war???

[samadhi]

Why would the UN or NATO or any country want to send people to die for Bush's illegal occupation?
Does John Kerry actually think the reason for failure is because of Bush and not because it is WRONG?
I had hope that Kerry would be in touch with the situation such as General Odom.

I am depressed now.

[truthspeaker]

1. the war is wrong but Bush made it worse than it had to be

Let's wait until Kerry's in the White House before we slam him. Now if he continues the Iraq occupation the gloves will be off and we will slam him HARD.

[Walt Starr]

2. Maybe he plans on appointing William Jefferson Clinton

as Secretary of State.

I can think of no other move that would do more to instill the confidence of world leaders than having Clinton at the helm of our foreign policy efforts.

[Fridays Child]

4. Agreed.

eom

[rock]

15. There ya go!

[Liberal Gramma]

16. Oooh, I never thought of that!

Great idea!

[redqueen]

3. The reason for failure is bush's tactics, not because it's wrong

Greedy countries will happily help with 'wrong' wars in return for a nice share of the spoils. Lack of diplomacy and planning was what killed him wrt foreign support.

[democratreformed]

10. You're exactly right

Share and share alike. Bush forgot the front-end sharing part.

[gulfcoastliberal]

12. Illegal War = Wrong

This far has completely destroyed any notion of international law. Sure Saddam was a bad dictator, but that didn't mean it was right to illegally wage war and occupy Iraq. Sorry.

[redqueen]

13. Sorry for the misunderstanding - I agree the war is wrong

I just don't think that's the reason it's been a failure.

[Cocoa]

5. the UN has an interest in Iraq not collapsing

a good president could succeed in getting international help.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

6. Maybe because the UN and NATO would like to accomplish peace

in the middle east without having the nation of Iraq be the personal property of Bush's corporate cronies.

[demnan]

7. I wouldn't be so critical of Kerry

This wasn't his war to begin with. (Yes I know - the vote). But what can we do? The only way to end this is to try to get Muslim countries involved in peace keeping and to get our butts out of there.

Of course the other way to leave would be helicopters in the middle of the night. And everyone who sided with us over there would be tortured and killed, Pol Pot anyone?

So Kerry has come up with the only sane solution he can come up with.

[cspiguy]

14. It is indeed not his war. He voted against the original 91 iraq war

and everything we have seen over the past decade, from attempted assasination of Bush I, Desert Fox and the presidential palace conflicts to the southern and northern watch aggression and the whole inspectors fiasco are really part of one prolonged conflict. If other senators had followed his lead in 91 none of that would have been necessary.

[seabeyond]

8. we are 7 months out of kerry doing anything with iraq

once he is elected. there is so much happening to it, he can only talk to it where it is now. he cannot predict where we will be at the end of january. the way things are going, by the time kerry is in, this may all be for it and we might have had to get out by then. who is to know

i just dont put a lot into what he projects now, cause what is now absolutely wont be 7 motnhs from now

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. He realizes the stakes

that is why he knwos this needs to be internationalized for all of our sakes

[Sparkly]

11. Yes it is

He answered the very question you pose: Because it is in their own interest. Yes, mistakes were made, it's been wrong, and the actions of the Chimp administration have been reckless and costly at best. His plan is to give up the "pride," admit the facts, and start some effective leadership for a change.

[No2W2004]

18. here's Kerry's quote

"Now the question. Why would other nations join a cause that they did not support in the first place, particularly when they see what's happening? For one simple reason. It is in their profound self-interest. And the president needs to put that self-interest on the table and put it clearly before the world. That's what leadership is all about. That's what we need to do."

[blm]

Kerry is VERY friendly with many world leaders

and not just those in office. People forget that he helped draft the Kyoto Protocol for 10 years with many leaders from many nations. He understands how they think. They have every reason to want to HELP Kerry succeed.

Bush has proven that he doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks. Kerry has proven for years that he does.

Kerry is close with many at the UN and Teresa worked at the UN as an interpreter. They have alliances at the UN that Bush will NEVER have.

[fairfaxvadem]

17. that's the point, Kerry wants out of Iraq too...

But unlike Bush, now that we're there, we have to look 5, 10, 25 years down the road on this and he is doing that.

You can't put the genie back in the bottle.

I was against this war from the start but now that we're there, we need a sane solution for us AND for the Iraqis.

I think Kerry can do it. Lord knows, Bush won't.

[Iceburg]

19. I know its hard to think outside of your own universe of discourse

But Kerry is highly respected outside of America. No country outside of the alleged coalition is going to bail out Bush or offer but you would be very surprised at the amount of support Kerry has world-wide for a diplomatic solution. That said, it does not let America off the hook. America may well have to pick up the entire bill for reparations, go before the ICC etc. The world is PISSED with GWB.

[greatauntoftriplets]

20. As Paul Krugman said, it's too late for the world to rescue us.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/30/opinion/30KRUG.html

[bigtree]

21. We broke Iraq

We should help fix it.

[democratreformed]

22. "Help" is the key word

Not rule and dictate their rebuilding, IMO.

[bigtree]

23. I agree

Help which doesn't involve the formation of a U.S. junta there.

[Old and In the Way]

24. Or a profit center for Republican corporate welfare queens.

The post war Republican greed is a huge reason why this country is stuck in a quagmire there. Special Republican financial interests came before the national interests of this country.