Sen. Edward Kennedy: Bush's lies have undermined America's prestige and credibility around the world.
Editor's note: Following is the full text of Sen. Edward Kennedy's address to the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies July 15.
July 17, 2003 | Thank you, Dean Einhorn, for that gracious introduction.
I'm honored to be back with you at SAIS (SYSS) -- which has given so much insight and so many leaders to the foreign policy of this nation -- and others around the globe.
Last fall, I came here to reaffirm my conviction that 9/11 had not nullified the long-standing basic principle that war should be the last resort, and to argue the case that America should not go to war against Iraq unless and until all other reasonable alternatives had been exhausted. Then -- as now -- I believed that the threat posed by Saddam Hussein was not serious enough or imminent enough to justify a rush to war, and that we were going to war under false pretenses. Then -- as now -- I believed that war would distract from our broader war against terrorism and that we should not go to war with Iraq without the clear support of the international community.
Then -- as now -- I believed that without a systematic re-examination, with dubious and even false rationalization, and without the informed consent of the American people, the Bush Administration was changing our long-standing foreign policy on preventive war to permit a pre-conceived determination to invade Iraq.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2003/07/17/kennedy/
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
