Reply #14: No matter how many times other people put those words in Kerry's mouth [View All]

[Feanorcurufinwe]

He never did say he 'supported the war'. Neither did he say 'the war was justified'. He did say he supported the decision to disarm Saddam Hussein. Much like Dean said he had "never been in doubt about the evil of Saddam Hussein or the necessity of removing his weapons of mass destruction."

He also said, after Bush announced the start of the war, "The brave and capable men and women of our armed forces and those who are with us will quickly , I know, remove him once and for all as a threat to his neighbors, to the world, and to his own people, and I support their doing so." Much like Dean said he "devoutly supports the safety and success of our men and women in the field" at the same time -- in case you're not paying attention, the success Dean is referring to is the success of the invasion.


You could quote a thousand different sources that tell us what Kerry's position was and/or is. But the one source that is definitive -- John Kerry -- never supported Bush's actions in Iraq, leading up to the invasion, during the invasion, or during the occupation.

MATTHEWS: Were we right to go to Iraq?
KERRY: Not the way the president did it. Clearly, no, because he didn’t plan for how to win the peace. He didn’t build the kind of coalition he said he would. He didn’t keep his promises to the American people.
He promised he would respect the U.N. He promised he would, in fact, build an international coalition and he promised he would go to war as a last resort. And, Chris, one of the great lessons I learned in Vietnam is the meaning of the words “last resort.”
I think the test for a president as to whether or not you send young men or women anywhere to fight is whether you can look in the eyes of parents-if you lose one of them-and say to those parents, I tried to do everything in my power to avoid this happening to your child. But we had no choice for the security of our country. I believe the president of the United States fails that test in Iraq.
http://www.msnbc.com/news/983074.asp