Kerry: Sanders is 'distorting' Biden's record over vote for Iraq war

[highplainsdem]

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/477893-kerry-sanders-is-distorting-bidens-record-over-vote-for-iraq-war

Former Secretary of State John Kerry said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is “distorting” his presidential primary opponent former Vice President Joe Biden’s record over his vote in favor of the Iraq War.

“I think Bernie is regrettably distorting Joe’s record,” Kerry, a Biden campaign surrogate, said Sunday on CBS “Face the Nation.”

He added that Sanders “doesn’t have what Joe Biden has,” in terms of eight years on the national security council.

Kerry continued that he knows “very well what Joe’s position” since he answered the same questions in 2003 and 2004, when he was running for president.

“It was very clear that what we were doing was listening to a president that made a pledge, that he was going to do diplomacy, he was going to exhaust diplomacy build a coalition, and ultimately we learned, as Joe did and I did, that the intelligence was distorted,” Kerry said.

“So Joe spoke out and criticized, Joe was against what they were doing,” he added.

Kerry added that the vote “was not a vote especially to go to war it was a vote for the president to have leverage with respect to getting Saddam Hussein back to the … inspections.”

“I think we were let down, and Joe has said many times it was a mistake, obviously, to trust the words of the administration who didn't follow through on what they said they were going to do,” Kerry said.

His remarks come after the Sanders campaign slammed Biden’s decision to vote for the Iraq War.

-snip-

Shame on Sanders. He looks increasingly desperate, and these tactics hurt the Democratic Party.


Face The Nation tweet with video:

Link to tweet

[The Valley Below]

1. John Kerry is spot-on.

[getagrip_already]

3. +++ nt

[Zambero]

14. John Kerry has a very credible reputation

And furthermore, like Joe Biden he is an actual DEMOCRAT.

[UniteFightBack]

2. I don't think Bernie cares very much about hurting the Democratic Party. I think that is very much

the point. It is after all a 'revolution'.

[Thekaspervote]

5. +1000

[Baitball Blogger]

4. "let down"?

It would be more convincing if Kerry said that they were BETRAYED by George W. Bush II. That would leave no room for a diplomatic response and would be more convincing as an excuse.

[BeyondGeography]

6. If you're still rationalizing your vote for IWR you are losing

Dems who voted for it knew better but they were covering their butts in the post-9/11 terramania environment for future elections. Or they were hopelessly naive. I think they all knew better. Either way, wrong vote then, now and for eternity.

[AverageJoe]

12. Exactly true.

You are spot on.

[redqueen]

15. This

[CentralMass]

7. A WAPO Fact Check: Biden's claim that he opposed the Iraq War the 'moment it started'

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/09/09/bidens-claim-that-he-opposed-iraq-war-moment-it-started/

[Cha]

8. SURPRISE! Sneaky Sirota..

Here's some tweets SNEAKY sirotaa Deleted but they live forever.


"Here are links to the the International Business Times stories he was tweeting out and wanted voters to revisit the night before the 2016 election. "

https://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/hillary-clinton-economic-team-planned-secret-meeting-wall-street-mogul-pushing?utm_content=buffer2cf20&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

https://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/emails-show-clinton-foundation-donor-reached-out-hillary-clinton-arms-export-boost?utm_content=buffereb3c4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

https://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/hillary-clinton-said-outsourcing-benefited-america-after-she-criticized-bush?utm_content=buffer8b4c6&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

https://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/state-department-blocks-release-hillary-clinton-era-tpp-emails-until-after?utm_content=buffera658a&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

https://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/hillary-clinton-spotlighting-crisis-flint-michigan-voted-against-measure-prevent?utm_content=bufferc4ee4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

https://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/hillary-clinton-paid-speeches-wall-street-promoted-commission-pushed-social?utm_content=buffer0cb0f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Link to tweet

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=417556

David Sirota's history: "From a Bogus Website to Bernie Sanders's Inner Circle"

This is what David Sirota is spreading on twitter:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=403646

[Voltaire2]

9. John still can't face the fact that he fucked up.

[karynnj]

26. Kerry has said for more than a decade that the vote was wrong

That does not change the reason behind the vote. On that, he has given the same reason he gave when he spoke before the vote.

[Voltaire2]

29. Kerry has been trying desperately to explain his vote for more than a decade.

In the op he tries once again:

“It was very clear that what we were doing was listening to a president that made a pledge, that he was going to do diplomacy, he was going to exhaust diplomacy build a coalition, and ultimately we learned, as Joe did and I did, that the intelligence was distorted,” Kerry said.

“So Joe spoke out and criticized, Joe was against what they were doing,” he added.

Kerry added that the vote “was not a vote especially to go to war it was a vote for the president to have leverage with respect to getting Saddam Hussein back to the … inspections.”

“I think we were let down, and Joe has said many times it was a mistake, obviously, to trust the words of the administration who didn't follow through on what they said they were going to do,” Kerry said.

He wasn't 'wrong' he was 'let down'. And it was very clear to apparently everyone except the Democrats who voted for the war, that they were voting for war with Iraq.

[karynnj]

30. The only reason he is saying this now is to defend Biden

It is possible for two things to be true. They wanted to avoid war by doing what Kerry said and that when that failed, they were forever accursed of being for a war they worked to make less likely.

you look at the way he was able to use the threat of bombing to get Russia and Syria to agree to get 1200 tons of chemical weapons out of that unstable country, you would see that having leverage can allow diplomacy that was blocked before that.

[Voltaire2]

31. AUMF

Authorization for the Use of Military Force.

[Jopin Klobe]

10. Biden's claim that he opposed the Iraq War the 'moment it started'

LINK: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/09/09/bidens-claim-that-he-opposed-iraq-war-moment-it-started/

... and the source of the info of the above published DU story...

John Kerry ... "Man of the People" ...

John Kerry Saves $500,000 By Docking 76-Foot Luxury Yacht Out Of State

BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry is docking his family’s new $7 million yacht in neighboring Rhode Island, allowing him to avoid paying roughly $500,000 in taxes to the cash-strapped Bay State.
LINK: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/john-kerry-saves-500000-b_n_656985

[AverageJoe]

11. Kerry is being dishonest

What a regrettable lie Kerry is telling. Shame on him. Everyone in the world knew Bush was lying. There were MASSIVE protests around the globe because literally EVERYONE knew it was a lie.

Joe Wilson was very clear that there were no WMDs. That’s why Bush/Cheney outed his CIA operative wife, Valerie Plame.

[thesquanderer]

16. Hans Blix was also saying no WMD. Anyone who was paying attention knew it was phony. (n/t)

[karynnj]

24. Hans Blix did not go to Iraq until after the vote

Getting the IAEA INTO Iraq was something that was done because of that vote.

[thesquanderer]

43. Ah, yes, his info was after the vote but before the actual invasion. Thanks for correction. nt

[oasis]

28. Hans Blix was ordered out of Iraq by Bush. Dems who gave the nod

to IWR had no crystal ball to warn them Bush would make that move. They had the understanding Blix and the weapons inspectors would be allowed to complete their task.

[colorado_ufo]

17. Spot on!

[karynnj]

27. Joe Wilson supported Kerry in 2004 and that story came out in 2003 after the vote

It happened after Bush's state of the union speech. People forget the vote was in October 2002 and Bush went to war in March 2003.

[Tom Rinaldo]

13. Obama backers were happy to use Clinton's Iraq vote against her in the primaries

Were they wrong to do so?

[Scurrilous]

18. K&R

[Scurrilous]

19. Sander's screwing-up...

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

This is what happens when you delegate the dirty work.

[wellst0nev0ter]

20. I just had a post deleted

for pointing out that Biden, Kerry and Hillary Clinton were in the clear minority of Democrats in Congress who believed the Republican lies and voted for the Iraq war.

The Iraq war was clearly NOT a consensus decision, so this isn't up for debate. But apparently the truth still strikes a nerve in certain corners.

[Gothmog]

21. Hillary Clinton voted for the Iraq war and still won the primary. Can Joe Biden?

Last edited Mon Jan 13, 2020, 07:00 PM - Edit history (1)

This silly attack did not work against Clinton. Why does sanders think that it will work now? https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/01/08/hillary-clinton-voted-iraq-war-still-won-primary-can-joe-biden/

In months of debates, interviews and campaign appearances in the 2016 primary, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was unable to take down Hillary Clinton by attacking her vote for the Iraq War. Clinton was clearly the more hawkish of the two contenders, defending President Barack Obama’s handling of the war against the Islamic State and calling for a responsible drawdown in Afghanistan. Despite the Democratic Party’s staunch opposition to the war, Clinton won the nomination. She acknowledged the vote was a mistake, but also truthfully recounted that she understood President George W. Bush to be using the resolution to get the United Nations to buy into a joint resolution.

In 2020, Sanders is now making the same argument against former vice president Joe Biden, namely that his Iraq War vote is disqualifying. As Clinton did, Biden may point to his overall record on foreign policy under Obama (e.g., opposing the surge in Afghanistan or using sanctions and diplomacy to get the Iran nuclear deal). He also may attack Sanders as vulnerable — that is to say “unelectable” — because President Trump will easily tag him as weak on national security.....

In any case, Sanders’s critique might get him only so far, even with progressive voters. Biden plainly is skeptical of Trump’s rush to war now and fought in the Obama administration to stop further troop commitments. At worst (from the perspective of the average Democratic primary voter), one could say he was too trusting of Bush, became a war critic (although not immediately), showed his commitment to thoughtful internationalism under Obama and now seems fully capable of taking down Trump on his foreign policy blunders.

Voters are remarkably willing to judge candidates on what they are saying now as long as the candidate appears trustworthy and confident. Many candidates, to the frustration of opponents and/or media critics, have gotten away with changes in position or with past missteps. Voters tend to look at candidates in the present, assess their sincerity and demeanor, and then decide if they can trust them to do the right thing when the candidate is the decision-maker.

[betsuni]

22. K&R

[democrattotheend]

23. Really?

Is Kerry still spewing this nonsense?

"Kerry added that the vote “was not a vote especially to go to war it was a vote for the president to have leverage with respect to getting Saddam Hussein back to the … inspections.”

Nobody bought that in 2004, and nobody is buying it now.

[karynnj]

25. Kerry easily won the nomination in 2004

He won all but 4 states, 2 of which were won by favorite sons, after they were no longer candidates. VT, NC. It was consistent with his speech before the vote. He also said he would speak out if Bush did not do as he said .. And he did BEFORE Bush took the country to war.

Kerry actually won the Iowa vote of people who defined themselves as antiwar.

[Hortensis]

32. Trump, Putin, hostile media, candidates. Biden's a real man,

not perfect, but his 50 years of public service right up to today show him to be far, far too honorable and well intentioned for the good of those competitors cast in his shade and even more for those whose records can't stand comparison.

So those of lesser integrity feel they have to "distort," as Kerry puts it. At every opportunity. The less integrity, the more "distortion," the more professional liars hired and the more volunteers rally to "distort."

[aikoaiko]

33. This wasn't rocket science - 21 Democrats in the Senate voted against the IWR

No sir, John Kerry, it is fair to criticize Joe Biden's vote.

21 (42%) of 50 Democratic Senators voted against the resolution. Those voting against the resolution were:
Sens. Akaka (D-HI), Bingaman (D-NM), Boxer (D-CA), Byrd (D-WV), Conrad (D-ND), Corzine (D-NJ), Dayton (D-MN), Durbin (D-IL), Feingold (D-WI), Graham (D-FL), Inouye (D-HI), Kennedy (D-MA), Leahy (D-VT), Levin (D-MI), Mikulski (D-MD), Murray (D-WA), Reed (D-RI), Sarbanes (D-MD), Stabenow (D-MI), Wellstone (D-MN), and Wyden (D-OR).

And one independent senator voted against the resolution: Sen. Jeffords (I-VT)

Even a Republican Senator (Chafee) voted against it.

[highplainsdem]

34. And 29 voted for it. The majority of Democratic senators:

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1287&pid=421495


Including two who later won the Democratic presidential nomination, proving how unimportant that vote is in the Democratic primary.

[aikoaiko]

35. I remember using the "other kids were doing it" excuse with my mother.

Biden's war enabling vote may not resonate with voters. That's true.

But Bernie is still correct to bring it up.

[highplainsdem]

37. No, Sanders isn't correct to bring it up. But he's desperate enough to try it again

though it didn't help him against HRC.

[Voltaire2]

38. Biden's team 'brought it up' after the assassination of Suleimani.

They thought it would grand to toot his 'foreign policy gravitas' horn.

It was both shamefully opportunistic and foolish, as his record is not great. See for example his vote to go to war in Iraq.

[highplainsdem]

39. Again, the same vote as Kerry and HRC, and Democrats voted for them to be our nominees in 2004 and

2016.

And polls show Dems trust Biden much, much more on foreign policy than they trust his rivals.

Foreign leaders trust him, too:

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/20/biden-2020-foreign-policy-national-security-1228345

[aikoaiko]

41. Maybe now that we are at the precipice of war again -- it might resonate more

[highplainsdem]

42. Even the most recent polling shows Biden's the most trusted on foreign policy.

Bernie's preaching these distortions to the choir, but most Democrats know better.

[karynnj]

44. Except few people have more credibility due to having actually USED diplomacy with Iran

As compared to John Kerry and President Obama .... And Joe Biden, Ben Rhodes, Susan Rice and others who were part of the National Security team who weighed in on that diplomacy.

[NYMinute]

36. Sanders campaign

= slogans, platitudes, pandering, distortions and complaining about "establishment."

Also instilling "holier than thou" memes.

[highplainsdem]

40. +1,000,000