Kerry Questions Bush's Judgment on Iraq
By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Sen. John Kerry said Monday that
mistakes by President Bush in invading Iraq could lead to unending war and that no responsible
commander in chief would have begun the war knowing Saddam Hussein
didn't possess weapons of mass destruction and
wasn't an imminent threat to the United States.
"Yet today, President Bush tells us that he
would do everything all over again, the same
way. How can he possibly be serious?" the
Democratic presidential candidate said at
New York University.
Kerry, a fourth-term Massachusetts senator,
voted to give Bush authority to wage the war
and he said in August he still would have
voted that way had he known there were no
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
The Democrat makes a distinction between
his voting to grant a president war-making
authority as a member of the Senate and
Bush, as commander in chief, actually
taking that fateful step. Republicans have
accused Kerry of waffling on the war.
Kerry said Monday, "Is he really saying to
Americans that if we had known there were
no imminent threat, no weapons of mass
destruction, no ties to al-Qaida, the United
States should have invaded Iraq? My answer
is resoundingly no because a commander in
chief's first responsibility is to make a wise
and responsible decision to keep America
safe."
"Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who
deserves his own special place in hell,"
Kerry said. "But that was not, in itself, a
reason to go to war. The satisfaction we
take in his downfall does not hide this fact:
We have traded a dictator for a chaos that
has left America less secure."
Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt
said Kerry's goal of pulling U.S. troops out
of Iraq in his first term sends "a clear signal
of defeat and retreat to America's enemies that will make the world a far
more dangerous place."
Kerry's speech was timed one day ahead of Bush's scheduled address
to the U.N. General Assembly in New York. Bush planned to strike back
at Kerry's increasingly aggressive criticism on Iraq, aides said.
Kerry said Monday that Bush's invasion of Iraq has created a crisis that
could lead to unending war and has raised questions about whether
Bush's judgment is up to presidential standards. He offered his own
four-point plan starting with pressing other nations for help.
_ Get more help from other nations.
_ Provide better training for Iraqi security forces.
_ Provide benefits to the Iraqi people.
_ Ensure that democratic elections can be held next year as promised.
"If the president would move in this direction ... we could begin to
withdraw U.S. forces starting next summer and realistically aim to bring
all our troops home within the next four years," Kerry said.
Bush's mistakes, Kerry said, "were not the equivalent of accounting
errors. They were colossal failures of judgment - and judgment is what
we look for in a president."
Kerry contended that Bush has not been honest about the war's
rationale or costs. He said the president's decision to go to war against
Iraq has distracted from a greater threat to the United States - more
terrorist attacks.
"In Iraq, this administration has consistently over-promised and
underperformed. This policy has been plagued by a lack of planning, an
absence of candor, arrogance and outright incompetence. And the
President has held no one accountable, including himself," Kerry said in
remarks prepared for delivery.
With six weeks remaining until Election Day, the
Massachusetts senator was pressing the debate on an
issue that has given him trouble in his bid for the
White House.
The Republicans have accused him of staking out
unclear, even contradictory, positions on Iraq. His
speech was aimed at explaining his stance and drawing
clear differences with Bush's leadership at a time
when troubles in Iraq are mounting.
Kerry tried to turn the criticism back against the
president by pointing to varying administration
arguments for going to war.
"By one count, the president offered 23 different
rationales for this war," Kerry said. "If his purpose was
to confuse and mislead the American people, he
succeeded."
Kerry said Bush's two main rationales - weapons of
mass destruction and a connection between al-Qaida
and the Sept. 11 attacks - have been proven false by
weapons inspectors and the bipartisan commission
investigating the attacks.
"This president was in denial," Kerry said. "He hitched
his wagon to the ideologues who surround him,
filtering out those who disagreed, including leaders of
his own party and the uniformed military. The result is
a long litany of misjudgments with terrible
consequences."
Kerry can now point to other Republicans who are also
voicing concern about the president's leadership in
Iraq. Among them is the chairman of the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, Indiana Republican
Richard Lugar, who said Sunday problems with
reconstruction show there is "incompetence in the
administration." Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he would like to see the president
be more clear about the dangers in Iraq.
___ |
