Why did Kerry vote against the 1991 Gulf War, anyone know?

[TexasSissy]

A Democratic friend was asking me that, and I know I heard Kerry talk about this, but if he said the reason he voted against the first war against Iraq, I don't remember. That's not a big issue with me. But my friend said that * is talking about that lately.

Anyone know Kerry's reasoning for that vote?

[bif]

1. A lot of people did, as I recall

There was a lot of debate about it and it barely passed as I remember.

[SheepyMcSheepster]

2. here is kerry's speech about that vote

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/2/4/171330/6192

[seabeyond]

3. i feel personally a bit gun shy

i dont think he trusted govt and bush..........and after vietnam

then i think he said with bush 2 k,. so this is how i do it from lesson learned. and boy should have said f* you bush, dont trust you

[seabeyond]

4. as soon as intent to war clear

kerry supported bush and troops in war. immediately

i dont think this is something to feel shame in, this is a good thing to not trust. see what we learned in 2002

[Carni]

5. That was basically a territorial dispute over oil

I may be butchering the hell out of this, but it was my understanding that Kuwait and Iraq had been fighting over a particular land mass and it's oil for a number of years.

Basically Hussein demanded they give it up, they said no, so he invaded.

I have also seen speculation that Bush 1 double crossed his buddy Saddam by telling him he would not intervene if Saddam invaded.

I would imagine that Kerry, knowing the history of the Iran contra years felt that our playing both sides in the Iran/Iraq war would blow up in our faces.

I don't know what reason Kerry himself has offered regarding this... you might be able to find the issue on the Kerry website!

[MidwestTransplant]

7. That is not speculation

The US Ambassador to Iraq assured the Iraqis that their dispute with the Kuwait didn't concern the US. Whether she just did it on her own or was told to is another matter.

[Carni]

8. Thanks, I didn't know that!

I have read so much bush misbehavior over the last few years that my brain has turned to mush!

[Mike Daniels]

12. The way I understood PGW 1 it is that Saddam was told that

we weren't going to get involved with a territorial dispute over oil. However, at the time the US didn't forsee Iraq using military force and invading another country over the dispute in question.

Not sure about the whole story but I don't believe Saddam was ever told even in diplomatic-speak "go ahead and invade militarily, we won't care or interfere".

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IMHO, the real betrayal that took place in PGW 1 was when Bush implied we would support the Iraqi people in an uprising against Saddam and then failed to use our military power to keep Saddam's jets and helicopters grounded during the scattered revolts.

[On the Road]

6. Is It True That the 1991 Vote

was an actual vote for way whereas the IRW was a vote to give the president the authority to go to war under certain conditions? That alone would be a huge difference.

(I'm honestly not sure -- this is just my impression.)

[dolstein]

9. Joe Lieberman and Al Gore were right; Kerry was wrong

And I'm surprised that the Bush campaign hasn't used Kerry's vote against him. After all, this was a case where Iraq had already INVADED an ally. There was no speculation involved. And the elder Bush administration assembled a large international coalition. And still, Kerry resisted going to war. Of course, Kerry will say that he was prepared to use force if necessary, and merely wanted to give diplomacy and sanctions more time to work. But his instincts were wrong in this case.

[sandnsea]

10. Country wasn't united

No sure coalition. That's what he says.

I suspect it's because it was a bullshit oil war, more bullshit than the recent one in my estimation. At least we actually knew Saddam had been up to some bad things by 2002, we had much less information on the nuclear stuff in 1991.

[ogsball]

11. The truth is that Saddam was willing to withdraw

But the US would not enter into talks with him. The propoganda machine was in full tilt since the war gave the Saud's an excuse to have US troops in the area thus stablizing their government.

Kerry was right to vote against that war. The situation could have been handled with a minimum of blood shed and a whole lot fewer oil well fires.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

13. Where's The Evidence That Saddam Was Going To Withdraw?

He didn't want to lose face.....

[Nicholas_J]

14. The reasons for voting against the first Gulf War and voting for this one

Have their basis in the same ideas.

The Gullf War vote was a vote to take us immediately into war. Not to wait to see if economic sanctions and blockade worked to pressure Hussein out of Kuwait. But it was a vote for an immediate strike. Kerry wanted to give the sanctions which had only been in place a month the time ti be effictive and avoid war if diplomatic measres could be effective.

Kerry voted FOR this war because this president told him and other democrats privately, as well as asserting to the American people publically that he would exhaust all diplomatic and peaceful methods through the United Nations before comitting troops to war.

So Kerry's reasons in both situations were the same. Had he been given the same assertions of exhausting diplomacy first , during the Gulf War, indications as the time were that he would also have signed that legislation