Kerry's 91 Iraq vote: How do we respond?

[usregimechange]

What is the defense on his first Iraq war vote not to intervene in Kawait?

United we stand :kick: divided we fall.

[David Dunham]

1. Almost all Dems in Congress Opposed It Too

The Dems, including Kerry, thought GHW Bush was rushing into war without getting popular support first. Even Sam Nunn voted no.

[BeatleBoot]

2. Its Kuwait...

not Kawait...

But anyways, you were saying...

[arcane1]

3. GHW Bush and April Gilespie agreed w/him

at first, anyway, until the actual invasion...


essentially, they double-crossed Saddam to give Poppy his war excuse..

[bigtree]

4. Your response to that is what, Senator?

: CNN American Morning Transcript
Location: Manchester, NH
Date: 01/27/2004
CNN American Morning Transcript
January 27, 2004 Tuesday 7:07 AM Eastern Time
http://www.vote-smart.org/speech_detail.php?speech_id=M000027573&keyword=&phrase=gulf+war&contain=

HEMMER: Senator, the war continues to be a big hot-button issue here in New Hampshire, especially between you and Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont. You voted against the first Gulf War. You voted in favor of the past war in Iraq. Howard Dean says your logic is backwards. He told Wolf Blitzer yesterday-and I'll quote him now-“Perhaps my foreign policy experience and judgment might be better in the White House than his”-meaning you-“since he seemed to have voted wrong on both wars.”

Your response to that is what, Senator?

KERRY:

But, look, there is a very direct answer to both of those questions. I said we had to kick Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait. I said his invasion would not stand. I knew we had to use force ultimately, or might have to use force ultimately. I simply thought, given my experience in Vietnam and given Colin Powell, who was joint chiefs of staffs, reservations and other people, we ought to take another month or two to build the support in our country. And I though it was worth building that support, because when you go to war, you want to make sure the American people are really supportive if things go badly.

Secondly, with respect to this, nobody voted precisely for a war. They voted for a process. They voted to go to the U.N. They voted to build an international coalition that was legitimate, voted to have inspections exhausted, and voted to go to war as a last resort, which is what the president promised us. The president broke every single one of those promises, not to mention misled America with respect to the intelligence, which we now all know.

I stood up for the security and the common sense with respect to the soldiers who fight wars. I've been one of those soldiers. I know what it means when you lose the consent and legitimacy of the American people in a war. And as a president, I think there is a special test as to when you send young American men and women off to fight and die. I know that test, and as president, I will live up to the highest standard with respect to that.

[genius]

5. Both wars were wrong. The IWPR was not a war vote. It'll improve his

image.