To: American Spirit who wrote (12305 ) 4/4/2004 11:49:12 PM From: Brumar89 Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 81568 Kerry voted against war with Iraq in 1990. In 1991, he claimed he'd actually supported the war - his no vote was just because he wanted to give more time to get more allies. Then in 1997, he stated to John Sununu on CNN Crossfire that he supported the then-apparent imminent use of force against Saddam: " The president has, in effect, put military action on the table. Secretary (Richard) Cohen canceled his trip, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff canceled a trip, troops are deployed, the aircraft carriers are being brandished. There's no misunderstanding here about where the United States is prepared to go and I think that people need to just sort of back off. " ..... "The administration is leading." said Kerry. "The administration is making it clear that they don't believe that they even need the U.N. Security Council to sign off on a material breach because the finding of material breach was made by Mr. (Richard) Butler. So furthermore, I think the United States has always reserved the right and will reserve the right to act in its best interests. And clearly it is not just our best interests, it is in the best interests of the world to make it clear to Saddam Hussein that he's not going to get away with a breach of the '91 agreement that he's got to live up to, which is allowing inspections and dismantling his weapons and allowing us to know that he has dismantled his weapons. That's the price he pays for invading Kuwait and starting a war." Kerry blamed France's objections to force against Iraq on monetary interests. "The fact is that over a period of time France and Russia have indicated a monetary interest," he said. "They on their own have indicated the desire to do business. That's what's driving this. I mean, as (The New York Times') Tom Friedman said in a great article the other day, France Inc. wants to do business with oil and they are moving in the exact sort of opposite direction on their own from the very cause of the initial conflict, which was oil." worldnetdaily.com Then in 2002, he voted for the latest Iraq war resolution and supported Bush's decision to go to war as late as May 2003. When he was faced with Dean apparently leading in the polls he began to frame himself as antiwar from the beginning.