Larry King has Sen. Kerry on tonight to discuss, surprise, Iraq

[TayTay]

Sen. John Kerry, 3rd Ranking Democrat on the Foreing Relations Committee in the 110th Congress that convenes in January, will be on the Larry King Show tonight (11/29) to discuss issues around Iraq, the release of the Baker Commission or Iraq Study Group report and other issues.

These are some recent statements from the 4 leadings Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as they pertain to Iraq. Some of this might come up in tonight's interview, unless Mr. King decides to question Sen. Kerry about his decision not to take up stand-up comedy as a profession.

Joe Biden

http://biden.senate.gov/issues/iraq.cfm Not updated since 11/05

“As the Baker-Hamilton commission deliberates its recommendations for Iraq today and in the coming days, it faces a tremendous opportunity and responsibility. The opportunity is to generate a bipartisan way forward in Iraq. The responsibility is to make the hard choices required to turn Iraq around.

“I advocate – and have advocated directly to the Baker-Hamilton Commission – the need for a political settlement among Iraq’s major groups. The best way to get there is through federalism: maintaining a unified Iraq but decentralizing the country and giving Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis breathing room in their own regions. A central government would remain, responsible for the distribution of oil and border security. We would get Sunni buy-in by guaranteeing them a proportionate share of the oil revenues and we’d bring the neighbors in to support the political settlement. If we do all these things, we can withdraw most of our troops from Iraq by the end of 2007, with a small residual force to focus on counter-terrorism.

Chris Dodd

http://www.chrisdodd.com/issues/iraq

On October 12, 2006, in a speech at Providence College, his alma mater, Senator Dodd called for a new direction in the United States’ policy in Iraq.

He believes that America’s fighting men and women are doing their job in Iraq with extraordinary skill, commitment, and courage.

He also believes that the best way to honor their service, and better provide for the security of our nation, is to set a new direction for America’s policy in Iraq. In his speech at Providence College, Senator Dodd calls for an end to America’s open-ended commitment to remain in Iraq indefinitely. Instead, he believes that the time has come for the Administration to begin to reposition troops to safer areas within Iraq, as well as to Afghanistan and other areas in the Middle East where they can serve other pressing national security priorities. He also called for measures to encourage peaceful, constructive political engagement within Iraq and among Iraq’s regional neighbors and the larger international community. In addition, he called for the international community to redouble efforts to rebuild Iraq and create the conditions for sustained economic development, which is so critical to that nation’s stability and success.

These steps would be in accordance with a law passed by the Congress and signed last year by the President that 2006 should be a period of ‘significant transition to full Iraqi sovereignty, with Iraqi security forces taking the lead for the security of a free and sovereign Iraq . . . .’ These steps would also help ensure that the United States has a sufficient military presence in other nations and other regions where our vital interests are at stake – including especially our interest in combating terrorism.

John Kerry

http://www.johnkerry.com/news/releases/release.html?id=29

Kerry: Administration Has No Iraq Plan

“The President is working overtime to change his rhetoric on Iraq when we need him to change his policy. Our heroes are paying the price for the President’s pride and stubbornness.

Today’s performance was another attempt two weeks before an election to convince the American people he has a plan for Iraq. But the President can’t sell what he doesn’t have. One day President Bush invites comparisons to Vietnam, the next day Vice President Cheney says Iraq is going remarkably well, and every day the civil war intensifies and young Americans continue to die.

Iraq is in the middle of a civil war because there has been too little pressure on Iraqi politicians, not too much. Today, the President expressed confidence in the Prime Minister, even as Maliki rejected the toothless timelines the Administration was selling yesterday. All the President’s guarantees that he’ll ‘stay as long as it takes’ have given Iraqi politicians permission to take as long as they want. President Bush needs to change course and tell the Iraqis that no American soldier will be sacrificed because Iraqis refuse to settle their political differences. President Bush now acknowledges we need a political solution in Iraq even as he prepares to continue the failed course of trapping more troops in a civil war.

The President who has had a stand still and lose policy in Iraq and a cut and run policy in Afghanistan has no credibility raising the specter of Iraq becoming a terrorist haven when it’s the war in Iraq that our own intelligence agencies say has weakened us in the fight against terror.

“We have to get tough on Iraq with deadlines to get Iraq and its neighbors to do the diplomacy necessary to achieve a political solution. And we need to make clear that American troops will be leaving within a year to force Iraqis to make the tough compromises. Only then do we have a chance to make Iraqis stand up for Iraq and bring our heroes home.

Russ Feingold

http://www.feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/releases/06/11/20061114.html

FEINGOLD CONTINUES PUSH FOR A TIMETABLE FOR IRAQ REDEPLOYMENT
Feingold Introduces Measure Requiring Vast Majority of U.S. Troops to Redeploy from Iraq by Mid-2007
November 14, 2006

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold today introduced legislation requiring U.S. forces to redeploy from Iraq by July 1, 2007. The legislation, which builds on an amendment Feingold authored earlier this year, would allow for a minimal number of U.S. forces to remain in Iraq for targeted counter-terrorism activities, training of Iraqi security forces, and the protection of U.S. infrastructure and personnel.

“Redeploying our troops will pressure the Iraqi government to get its political house in order while allowing us to re-focus on global terrorist organizations and trouble spots that threaten our national security,” Feingold said. “It simply doesn't make sense to continue devoting so much of our resources to one country while ignoring the growing threats we face around the world.”

In August 2005, Feingold became the first U.S. Senator to propose a target date for the redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq. Earlier this year, Feingold cosponsored an amendment to the Defense authorization bill that would have required the redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq by July 1, 2007. In September, Feingold also introduced a resolution addressing the need to strengthen our efforts in Afghanistan so as to prevent that country from again becoming a key staging ground for terrorists.

[TayTay]

1. Sen. Chuck Hagel on Iraq in 11/27 WaPo OpEd

The United States must begin planning for a phased troop withdrawal from Iraq. The cost of combat in Iraq in terms of American lives, dollars and world standing has been devastating. We've already spent more than $300 billion there to prosecute an almost four-year-old war and are still spending $8 billion per month. The United States has spent more than $500 billion on our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And our effort in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate, partly because we took our focus off the real terrorist threat, which was there, and not in Iraq.

We are destroying our force structure, which took 30 years to build. We've been funding this war dishonestly, mainly through supplemental appropriations, which minimizes responsible congressional oversight and allows the administration to duck tough questions in defending its policies. Congress has abdicated its oversight responsibility in the past four years.

It is not too late. The United States can still extricate itself honorably from an impending disaster in Iraq. The Baker-Hamilton commission gives the president a new opportunity to form a bipartisan consensus to get out of Iraq. If the president fails to build a bipartisan foundation for an exit strategy, America will pay a high price for this blunder -- one that we will have difficulty recovering from in the years ahead.

To squander this moment would be to squander future possibilities for the Middle East and the world. That is what is at stake over the next few months.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/24/AR2006112401104.html

[TayTay]

2. Whoops, almost forgot: Notice to Kerry Fans, Worshippers, minions, sycophants

hangers-on, suck-ups, Friends, Kerry Quakers (you know who you are), and other adherents of The Faith:

Services tonight at 9:00 pm Eastern on CNN. You know what to do. Mind the candles and the altar clothes. We have told you countless times to make those altar coverings out of flame-proof material. There was a memo. Geesh.

Minions, prepare to man your posts. You know what to do. Implement plan Alpha Beta Amore 12v.

The rest of you can discuss Iraq or whatever.

[lillilbigone]

3. perhaps Kerry is not the only one who should forget about

a career in comedy.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

6. I thought it was funny

and I think Kerry can tell a good joke as well.
Meanwhile, I wish this is what Webb had said to Bush after he asked a SECOND time about his son:
"If you really care so damned much, why don't you put your boots on and go over there and find out for yourself"

[TayTay]

7. Really

Do tell? Were these long standing plans or something that had only been in the works for a short time?

My condolences.

[Mass]

8. If you are talking of Larry King, you are probably right.

[Blaukraut]

9. Yeah, ok.

I thought it was absolutely hilarious, but then again - people have different tastes. Whatever :eyes:

[karynnj]

11. Who said it was comedy?

We need to prepare.

[BlueIris]

12. Yeah, really. Some of us need those advanced warnings.

Sheesh.

[beachmom]

14. Exactly. Hero worship is not for the faint hearted.

One must acquire all accessories and prepare before the 9 PM service with quiet meditation. Who said anything about a joke?

[zbdent]

15. Like Tancredo?

[MH1]

32. Heh

stick around and read a little more of TayTay over the next few months. You may find that this kind of humor grows on you. (TayTay's "Kindergarten Tales of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee" are not to be missed, let me tell you! The Bolton episode was particularly amusing.)

btw, welcome to DU! :hi:

[whometense]

4. I forget -

Are scented candles permitted?

[Blaukraut]

5. omg, I'm SO there!

OMG, count this minion in! I'm going to bring my Kerible to the worship service. Can't forget that now! Uh, what's the subject going to be again? Oh, never mind! JK is getting interviewed - who cares about the subject as long as we can feast our eyes on our idol! :loveya:

[wisteria]

13. LOL, I've received my orders and plan a rendezvous at 9:00 PM sharp.

Ops, rendezvous is a French word- err, I meant I mean to keep the appointment at 9:00 PM sharp.

[Sensitivity]

27. Point well made. Too bad MSN and fellow politicos don't fall in those categories

[LittleClarkie]

31. I'm a little min-yon, short and stout...

At the ready, oh grand poopah.

[madfloridian]

36. Chuckle.

:rofl:

[Vektor]

37. Bwaa-hahaha

"YES, MY LIEGE"

:rofl:

[TayTay]

10. Stephen Hadley's Memo on Iraq

The reality on the streets of Baghdad suggests Maliki is either ignorant of what is going on, misrepresenting his intentions, or that his capabilities are not yet sufficient to turn his good intentions into action," the story quoted the memo as saying.

The White House did not dispute the accuracy of the quoted material from the memo, but a senior administration official, reacting on condition of anonymity to details of the published classified memo, said Wednesday that, taken as a whole, it is an expression of support for al-Maliki.

"You have a constant reiteration of the importance of strengthening the Maliki government, the need to work with him, to augment his capabilities," the official said. He added that Bush and al-Maliki have a "personal relationship" that allows them to "talk candidly about the challenges."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/11/29/bush.trip.ap/index.html

Geez, I kind of wish the Sen. Lugar would discuss this before the 109th Congress adjourns for the year. Then again, considering the butt-kissing that Sen. Allen could do before he departs the Congress might have to carry a warning for kids and stuff.

[beachmom]

16. It's pretty bizarre when Bush doesn't even receive or at least read

internal memos from the White House. Wasn't it two days ago that he was going to ask Maliki what to do in Iraq? And now Bush's own people are saying he's an ignoramus? Seems to me Bush and Maliki will be like two peas in a pod.

[TayTay]

17. It's tragic. Hadley says one thing in public and another in private

Hadley is truly one of the worst people in this Admin.

Hey, I also saw that Colin Powell said today that Iraq is in Civil War and that Bush needs to acknowledge this. I kind of hope that comes up tonight. It would be a very legitimate question to ask, given that Sen. Kerry has said that part of the reason for his vote on the IWR back in 2002 was based on conversations he had with Sec of State Powell.

You know, on EDIT, I wish that Larry King would schedule a show with Hagel, Dodd, Biden, Kerry, Lugar or some variation thereof. That would be interesting. Maybe too wonky and, you know, actually about something for cable, but it would be interesting. Sen. Lugar has not been unsympathetic to the Dems on the the SFRC. He is not one of the neo-cons, he just voted with them when Rethugs ruled the Senate. It would interesting to see if he feels freer now to speak his mind.

[ProSense]

23. That would be interesting!

I don't buy Biden's plan for partitioning Iraq because it assumes that once divided there will be three states. The dynamics in Iraq and its neighbors interest in the country blows the notion that dividing Iraq will bring stability:

Partitioning Iraq

Would dividing the country decrease ethnic infighting or lead to more fighting and inflame the Middle East?

By Juan Cole

Snip...

But aside from the selfish interests of all the political actors inside and outside Iraq, as a practical policy, partitioning Iraq is too risky. It would probably not reduce ethnic infighting. It might produce more. The mini-states that emerge from a partition will have plenty of reason to fight wars with one another, as India did with Pakistan in the 1940s and has done virtually ever since. Worse, it is likely that if the Sunni Arab mini-state commits an atrocity against the Shiites, it might well bring in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. They in turn would be targeted by Saudi and Jordanian jihadi volunteers.

A break-up of Iraq might not stop at Iraq’s borders. The Sunni Arabs could be picked up by Syria, thus greatly increasing Syria’s fighting power. Or they could become a revolutionary force in Jordan. A wholesale renegotiation of national borders may ensue, according to some thinkers. Such profound changes in such a volatile part of the world cannot be depended on to occur without bloodshed. The region is already racked by the Arab-Israeli conflict and the struggle between secular and religious politics.

If Iraq does sink into long-term instability, it will not hold the world harmless. With two-thirds of the globe’s proven petroleum reserves and 45 percent of its natural gas, the Persian Gulf hinterland of Iraq is key to the well-being of an industrialized or industrializing world. Long-term political instability in this region could drive petroleum prices so high as to endanger the world economy.

Ironically, those who plotted the Iraq war as a guarantee that the new century would also be an American one may well have put U.S. energy security in such question, and so weakened the dollar, as to raise the question of whether U.S. power has been dealt a permanent setback. Americans should pray that Iraqis heed the fatwa issued in Saudi Arabia late last week, forbidding inter-Muslim bloodshed.

Oops, link added!

[ginnyinWI]

28. I'd like to see a roundtable debate on one of the Sunday shows.

People wouldn't stick with it on Larry King--too wonky, as you say.

[Joe Chi Minh]

18. Your tag-line tells a story we seldom hear about, either from the MSM

or from his critics on here: that again and again, Kerry takes one of *'s fatuous, vapid, yet regularly-repeated, slogans, dissects it very precisely, then destroys it by spelling out the truth of its diametric antithesis:

"'Staying the course' isn't far-sighted; it's blind. Leaving our troops in the middle of a civil war isn't resolute; it's reckless. Half of the service members listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall died after America's leaders knew our strategy would not work. It was immoral then and it would be immoral now to engage in the same delusion." John Kerry 9/9/06

And with what telling and harrowing sentences, he articulates his second antithetical rebuttal: "Half of the service members listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall died after America's leaders knew our strategy would not work. It was immoral then and it would be immoral now to engage in the same delusion." John Kerry 9/9/06.

HALF! AND HOW MANY MORE DESPERATELY WOUNDED IN BODY AND SPIRIT.

[karynnj]

20. Kerry does do that time and time again

The imagery of half the names being after we should have known better is powerful. I think this is why the media wants to destroy John Kerry - no one else says any of these things as starkly as he did in 1971 and as he is doing now.

[TayTay]

21. That means after the Tet Offensive

I have actually heard Sen. Kerry say those lines, in various speeches, a few times. Each time, it's sort of personal when he says it. I think that's because his own time in Vietnam occurred "after America's leaders knew our strategy would not work." I saw him at Faneuil Hall in April deliver a variation of that line in front of the widow of a man who died in Vietnam in April, 1969, "after America's leaders knew our strategy would not work."

It didn't strike me as just a line. I think he goes to funerals of service people from Massachusetts who have died in Iraq and I wonder what he thinks at those times, given what he has said about this.

That Sept 9th speech also had this in it, which is too long for a .sig

It is immoral for old men to send young Americans to fight and die in a conflict without a strategy that can work – on a mission that has not weakened terrorism but worsened it.

It is immoral to lie about progress in that war to get through a news cycle or an election.

It is immoral to treat 9/11 as a political pawn – and to continue to excuse the invasion of Iraq by exploiting the 3,000 mothers and fathers, sons and daughters who were lost that day. They were attacked and killed not by Saddam Hussein but by Osama bin Laden.

And it is deeply immoral to compare a majority of Americans who oppose a failing policy and seek a winning one to appeasers of Fascism and Naziism.

http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=4130

[Sensitivity]

19. Wonder what's behind King interviewing Kerry rather than more popular player

[NewYorkerfromMass]

22. perhaps they are hoping Kerry will "botch a joke"

on his show? Some people think Kerry is a living breathing joke himself.
Kerry is a human pincushion for quite a few cowards actually.
Who gives a shit? I, for one, am happy they are giving such an intelligent and experienced man some air time.

[Joe Chi Minh]

24. Says you. Most of the country seemed to be behind him, despite

the disparaging voices on here.

[TayTay]

25. In a way it matters, and in a way it doesn't

Sen. Kerry still has a job to do as a US Senator. He has to go out and do it. If he has a declaration of conscience against this war in Iraq and believes that it wastes US military forces in a war that cannot be won and that it weakens the US in the process, then he must go out and make his case. That is his job. It is his obligation and duty as a Senator to 'call 'em as he sees 'em' and do what he thinks is right in carrying out the duties of his office and the wishes of the people in Massachusetts who elected him.

It is too bad that this stuff happened with the joke and all that because it takes away from the urgent discussion on Iraq and other issues. But, you don't get 'do overs' in politics. He has to play the hand that is dealt him and do the best he can. Again, that declaration of conscience that he freely made demands this.

[Joe Chi Minh]

26. Sure.

[wisteria]

39. He gets a wonderful reception whereever he goes. The people get it.

And, they are going to get tired of having the media spin the crap they do.

[David Zephyr]

29. I'll be watching. Thanks for the heads-up.

I think a lot of Americans will be tuning in.

[Bake]

30. "Dog the Bounty Hunter" is on too. And got top billing in the promos.

How f'ed up is THAT?

Bake

[TayTay]

33. That was really funny.

What a country! I have never heard of Dog the Bounty Hunter before. Love the mullet.

Too bad that the 3rd ranking Dem on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has to appear on the show with Dog the Bounty Hunter. (Hahahahahahaha!)

Anyway, yes, it is a civil war. Bush is still in denial, especially when he says that Al Qaeda is responsible for the bulk of the fighting and we need to set a date certain and get out.

[LittleClarkie]

34. So has it aired yet?

Keep us posted.

[JudyM]

35. Al Gore's on tonight, too - on Leno. n/t

[wisteria]

38. I heard Gore did well. Kerry should do that show too. n/t

[JudyM]

40. Yeah, he let his defenses down a lot and cracked jokes.

He still looked a bit stiff, though. I wonder whether it's because he's uncomfortable with his weight being up there these days. He could project a much better image if he acted more comfortable. Seems like such a nice guy, beyond being smart; he seemed more humble than I've seen him in the past.

[blm]

41. Funny thing - I never see Gore as stiff - I think it's part of his sense of humor

which is very dry, but which I happen to enjoy. As much as I admire Kerry for his amazing record against corruption, my funny bone prefers Gore's sense of humor.

[politicasista]

43. I think Gore is funny

and smart too. I remember he made an appearance a year ago and started saying "I'm Al Gore, I used to be the President of the United States" and the audience started laughing and he said, "That's not funny."

He has a cool sense of humor. :bounce:

[JudyM]

44. He's witty, for sure. But his style is a little tight. I might be sensitive to it

because I think that's part of why the '00 election was so close... people found shrubhead's ignorant nonchalance more engaging than Gore's compelling intellectual prowess. It does seem that he's loosened up quite a bit since that election.

[blm]

45. I view the tightness as part of the sense of humor - Charles Grodin used it to

a degree - so did Jack Benny. Letterman employs it as a device for some of his antics, too.

[mtnsnake]

42. Leno could let Kerry read his "Headlines" segment. It would be hard to botch

that up, since he'd be reading it right off each Headline card like what Jay does. Then again, Kerry could probably find a way :evilgrin: