Why is John Kerry not talking about his work on BCCI???

[Tamyrlin79]

I mean, it just seems so...relevant... to say that he was fighting terrorist financing and international crime networks long before it was popular after 9-11. It shows his courage, too. Why he isn't using that to talk about how he's more qualified for winning the war on terror than Bush, well, I just don't understand it. It's just such an easy argument to make.

Maybe he will make it part of his "closer"... We hear Kerry's a big closer, so...maybe this line of attack will be part of that?

[Dookus]

1. almost 20 years old

and can't be explained simply.

[mountainvue]

2. Because most folks don't get

BCCI. Sad but true.

[tomfodw]

3. Probably because it is a complicated issue

Also some years ago.

Why didn't he mention the work he and John McCain did in finding out about the MIAs and normalizing relations with Vietnam?

Or his work on the Contra scandal.

He has a remarkable resume, far more than just his service in Vietnam in the late 1960s.

But you never hear any of this.

[zulchzulu]

4. He has mentioned it in speeches...maybe something coming

Many of the same cast of characters in the BCCI/Iran-Contra Scandals are still working for Chimpy after they got the gigs either from Nixon or Raygun.

[GimmeDANEger]

5. he could simply mention it like this

Before George W. Bush knew a thing about terrorism, I was doing everything in my power to shut down a bank that funded terrorism. I spent years going against the advice of my colleagues to put an end to the bank because I knew it was something I had to do. George Bush, on the other hand, did business with the bank. To understand terrorism in a post-9/11 world, you also have to understand terrorism of the past, and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I can fight a more effective war on terrorism. BAm....he fucking wins.

[JohnnyCougar]

6. It beats the hell out of me.

I hate hearing all this nonsense about "it's too complicated." That's a bunch of malarkey.

All he has to say is, "I spent many years in the senate taking out the greatest of international criminal banks, BCCI. It was founded by shady charecters who laundered drug money and financed terrorism. They also financed George Bush out of business failures. I fought these terrorist financers tooth and nail, against all odds, and I won!"

Or, if you need an even more succinct soundbyte, "I dismantled the most corrupt terrorist financing network with my time in the Senate, one that also loaned money to George Bush."

The real reason they are not talking about this is because some Democrats were involved with this too, and it would embarass the DNC. It's a shame, I tell you, it really is. This is such a good card to play, and he could have laid it out in the debates.

[toddaa]

7. BCCI is a hornet's nest

The real danger of BCCI investigation is that it involved plenty of Democrats as well as Republicans and Kerry would make a lot of enemies in his own party if he started bragging about it.