Well thank you for showing how kerry joined the Navy to avoid the draft. I don't presume to know what others did to fulfill their military obligations and why. I do know kerry's has voted, made propositions and statement on defense issues and the VP has presented them in a context that shows kerry is a complete idiot on defense issues.
I've seen no evidence that any official part of the Republican Party has ever suggested anything negative about kerry's military service. I personally think it is all fabricated and faked by kerry. But that's me.
This is what the VP said and from it I do wonder.
Why does kerry hide behind false accusations that the President or the VP have said anything about the medals he threw away or any of his military service.. Any rational person can see kerry has no rebuttal for simply recounting his votes, his proposals and his statements. kerry is revealed by his own words and ideas.<p>
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These past three years, as our country experienced war and national emergency, I have watched our Commander-in-Chief make the decisions and set the strategy. I have seen a man who is calm and deliberate, comfortable with responsibility, consistent in his objectives, and resolute in his actions. These times have tested the character of our nation, and they have tested the character of our nation's leader. When he makes a commitment, there is no doubt he will follow through. As a result, America's friends know they can trust -- and America's enemies know they can fear -- the decisive leadership of the President of the United States, and I am honored to be part of his team. (Applause.)
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The President's conduct in leading America through a time of unprecedented danger -- his ability to make decisions and to stand by them -- is a measure that must be applied to the candidate who now opposes him in the election of 2004, the Junior Senator from Massachusetts.
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In one of Senator Kerry's recent observations about foreign policy, he claimed that his ideas have gained strong support, at least among unnamed foreigners he's been spending time with. (Laughter.) Senator Kerry said that he has met with foreign leaders, and I quote, "who can't go out and say this publicly, but, boy, they look at you and say, 'You've got to win this, you've got to beat this guy, we need a new policy,' things like that." End quote.
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A week later, a voter in Pennsylvania asked Senator Kerry directly who these foreign leaders are. He replied, "That's none of your business." But recently the Senator did drop a hint. The other day on "Meet the Press," he told Tim Russert, quote, "I mean, you can go to New York City and you can be in a restaurant and you can meet a foreign leader." (Laughter.) Maybe next time he'll narrow it down for us a little more. Maybe the name of the restaurant, or the leader. (Laughter.) In any case, come November, the outcome of the election will be determined by the voters of the United States, not by unnamed foreign leaders. (Applause.)
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Senator Kerry's record on national security raises some important questions all by itself. To give you some history, let's begin with the matter of how Iraq and Saddam Hussein would have been dealt with. Senator Kerry was in the minority of senators who voted against the Persian Gulf War in 1991, in which we liberated Kuwait after a brutal invasion and occupation. And at the time, the Senator expressed the view that our international coalition consisted of "shadowy battlefield allies who barely carry a burden." Yet last year, as we prepared to liberate Iraq, he recalled the Persian Gulf coalition a little differently. He said then it was a, quote, "strong coalition." Just eight days ago, Senator Kerry said former President George Bush had done, quote, "a brilliant job" of building the alliance. Having served as Secretary of Defense under former President Bush, I appreciate Senator Kerry's comment. But I find it odd that Senator Kerry is now commending an alliance he didn't want to build for a purpose he didn't support.
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Six years after the Gulf War, in 1997, Saddam Hussein was still defying the terms of the cease-fire. And as President Bill Clinton considered military action against Iraq, he found a true believer in John Kerry. The Senator from Massachusetts said, quote, "Should the resolve of our allies wane, the United States must not lose its resolve to take action." He further warned that if Saddam Hussein were not held to account for his violation of U.N. resolutions, some future conflict would have "greater consequence." In 1998, Senator Kerry indicated his support for regime change in Iraq, with ground troops if necessary.
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Four years later, in the fall of 2002, Senator Kerry wrote in an op-ed piece that, before America took any action against Iraq, President Bush should first go to the Congress for support, then go to the U.N. Security Council to seek enforcement of the resolutions, and then give an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein. President Bush, of course, did all of those things. And in the congressional vote, Senator Kerry was among those who favored military action if Saddam Hussein refused to comply with U.N. demands.
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A neutral observer, looking at these examples from Senator Kerry's record, would assume that the Senator actually supported military action against Saddam Hussein. The Senator himself now tells us otherwise. In January this year, he was asked on TV if he was "one of the anti-war candidates." He replied, "I am." He now says he was voting in October, 2002 only to, quote, "threaten the use of force," not actually to use force.
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Even if we set aside these inconsistencies and changing rationales, at least this much is clear: Had the decision belonged to Senator Kerry, Saddam Hussein would still be in power, today, in Iraq. In fact, Saddam Hussein would almost certainly still be in control of Kuwait, as well.
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Beyond his struggle to maintain a position on Iraq, Senator Kerry's record raises serious doubts about his understanding of the broader struggle against terror, of which Iraq is only one front. Less than two weeks ago, within hours of Osama bin Laden issuing a tape promising further attacks on America, Senator Kerry suggested that the President is exaggerating the terrorist threat. As the Senator put it, "Home base for George Bush, as we saw to the 'nth' degree in the press conference, is terror. Ask him a question, he's going to terror." End quote.
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Given that comment, it is not surprising that Senator Kerry has yet to outline any serious plan for winning the war on terror. Instead, he has questioned whether the war on terror is actually a war at all. Recently he said, quote, "I don't want to use that terminology." In his view, the war on terror is, again I quote, "not primarily a military operation. It's an intelligence-gathering, law enforcement, public diplomacy effort." End quote. As we have seen, however, that approach was tried before, and proved entirely inadequate to protecting the American people from terrorists who are quite certain they are at war with us and are comfortable using that terminology. (Applause.)
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Even if we accept Senator Kerry's assertion that law enforcement and intelligence should be the primary tools in combating terror, his voting record over the past decade indicates a different set of priorities. In 1994 -- less than a year after terrorists first struck the World Trade Center -- Senator Kerry twice proposed cutting a billion dollars from intelligence funding. When the matter came to the Senate floor for a vote, it was rejected overwhelmingly by a vote of 75 to 20. The following year, Senator Kerry proposed cutting $1.5 billion from the intelligence budget over five years. The Senator said his goal was to eliminate intelligence programs that he considered to be, "pointless, wasteful, antiquated, or just plain silly." Senator Kerry's proposed cuts were so deeply irresponsible that he couldn't find a single co-sponsor for his bill in the Senate.
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To his credit, the Senator did vote for the Patriot Act, along with 97 of his fellow senators. Now, however, he supports weakening that law.
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Senator Kerry's record on defense measures is a bit more consistent. From the beginning of his career in the U.S. Senate 20 years ago, Senator Kerry has repeatedly called for major reductions or outright cancellations of many of our most important weapons systems. In 1984, the middle of the Cold War, while we were confronted with an aggressive, well armed Soviet Union, the Senator issued a white paper on the defense budget during his first campaign for the Senate. He called for cutting up to $53 billion from the Reagan defense budget. And these cuts included the following: The MX missile, cancel; the B-1 bomber, cancel; anti-satellite system, cancel; strategic defense initiative, cancel; the AH-64 Apache helicopter, canceled; the Patriot air defense missile system, cancel; the F-15, cancel; the F-14A and F-14B, cancel; the Phoenix air-to-air missile, cancel; the Sparrow air-to-air missile, cancel.
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At the same time, he proposed reductions in funding for the Tomahawk cruise missile and the Bradley Fighting Vehicle. And at numerous times, Senator Kerry has voted against funding weapons systems vital to fighting and winning the war on terror, such as the Blackhawk helicopter and the Predator drone.
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And last September, when the President proposed an $87 billion-dollar supplemental appropriation for troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, Senator Kerry was asked whether he would support the President's request. He said, quote, "I don't think any United States senator is going to abandon our troops. That's irresponsible." End quote. The legislation provided funding for body armor and other vital equipment, hazard pay, health benefits, ammunition, fuel, and spare parts for our military. The legislation passed overwhelmingly, with a vote in the Senate of 87 to 12. Senator Kerry voted "no."
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As a way to clarify the matter, Senator Kerry recently said, quote, "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it." (Laughter.) End quote. The Senator is, obviously, free to vote as he wishes, but he should be held to his own standard. It is irresponsible to vote against vital support for the United States military. (Applause.)
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When Senator Kerry speaks about the direction of the war on terror, he often returns to a single theme -- the need for international cooperation. He has vowed to usher in a golden age of American diplomacy. He is fond of mentioning that some countries did not support America's actions in Iraq. Yet to the many nations that have joined our coalition, Senator Kerry offers only condescension. More than 30 nations have contributed and sacrificed for the freedom of the Iraqi people, including Great Britain, Australia, Italy, Poland, South Korea, and Japan. Senator Kerry calls these countries, quote, "window dressing." They are, in his words, "a coalition of the coerced and the bribed."
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I am aware of no other instance in which a presumptive nominee for President of the United States has spoken with such disdain of active, fighting allies of the United States in a time of war. Senator Kerry's contempt for our good allies is ungrateful to nations that have withstood danger, hardship, and insult for standing with America in the cause of freedom.
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In his years in Washington, Senator Kerry has been one vote of a hundred in the United States Senate -- and fortunately on matters of national security, he was usually in the minority. But the presidency is an entirely different proposition. The President always casts the deciding vote. And the Senator from Massachusetts has given us ample grounds to doubt the judgment and the attitude he brings to bear on vital issues of national security.
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The contrast between the candidates this November will be sharper than it has been in many years. In more than three years as President, George W. Bush has built a national security record of his own. America came to know the President after one of the worst days in our history. He saw America through tragedy. He has taken the fight to the enemy. And under his leadership, our country has once again led the armies of liberation -- freeing 50 million souls from tyranny, and making our nation and the world more secure. (Applause.)
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All Americans, regardless of political party, can be proud of what our nation has achieved in an historic time, when so many depended on us, and all the world was watching. And I have been very proud to work with a President who -- like other Presidents we have known -- has shown in his own conduct, the optimism, and strength, and decency of the great nation he serves.
Thank you very much. END 12:12 P.M. CDT<br>
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