Kerry Is Wrong About The Coalition Being Fraudulent

[DrFunkenstein]

The following items appear on Andrew Sullivan's blog, The Daily Dish.

KERRY ON THE BRITS: They're part of a "fraudulent" coalition, according to the Senator from Massachusetts last night:

This president has done it wrong every step of the way. He promised that he would have a real coalition. He has a fraudulent coalition. He promised he would go through the United Nations and honor the inspections process. He did not. He promised he would go to war as a last resort, words that mean something to me as a veteran. He did not.

Some questions. How was the coalition "fraudulent"? Is going to the U.N., getting a resolution and trying extremely hard for a second resolution not going through the U.N.? Are twelve years of inspections not respecting the inspections process? Is John Kerry a serious candidate for the presidency of the United States?

A "FRAUDULENT" COALITION: The alliance that John Kerry decried last night was very close to the alliance that landed at Normandy. Was that coalition fraudulent?

http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=10523

Any thoughts?

[blm]

1. Bush had the media protecting his "coalition"....

that was a multilateral force by definition, but, certainly not the way it should have been.

[David Zephyr]

2. I Agree With Kerry. It's Fradulent.

And check into how young boys in Central America are being conscripted against their will because their leaders have been bribed by the Bush Administration.

These are the things that burn in generations hearts for centuries.

If you won't call it fraudulent, then call it this: The Coalition of the Bribed.

[La_Serpiente]

3. I do not think it would hurt to have gone into Iraq with

a multi-lateral coalition. The whole world approved of our actions then. I wouldn't doubt it (except the axis powers). However, the world is different today and we have to realize that. Now, then entire world looks down on the government of Australia, America, and government of Britain for what they did. Does the entire world consider this a fraudulent coaltion? I would think so.

I think it is all a matter of perspective here.

[IndianaGreen]

4. "The Coalition of the Willing" is what Colin Powell used to say

Where are they today? Over 100 nations, according to Powell and Bush, were supporting the US against Iraq. How many troops have they contributed to the war and occupation?

The only fraud is Andrew Sullivan who should crawl back into whatever closet he came out.

[DrFunkenstein]

5. The Normandy Thing Is So Cheap

It's like you don't even want to bother arguing with it.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

6. So Andrew Sullivan is still an asshole

was that the point of this Dr?

[Lastgasp]

7. The coalition is fraudulent . . .

If you don't believe me, have a look at part of the membership.

Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Marshall Islands, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and Uzbekistan.

[killbotfactory]

8. Kerry's right. Sullivan is an ass.

I wish Kerry would have called it fraudulent before the bombs dropped.

[DrFunkenstein]

9. Actually, He Did

From 3/17/03:

"The Administration's handling of the run up to war with Iraq could not possibly have been more inept or self-defeating. President Bush has clumsily and arrogantly squandered the post 9/11 support and goodwill of the entire civilized world in a manner that will make the jobs ahead of us - both the military defeat and the rebuilding of Iraq - decidedly more expensive in every sense of that word.

The Administration's indifference to diplomacy and the manner in which it has treated friend and foe alike over the past several months have left this country with vastly reduced influence throughout the world, made impossible the assembly of a broad, multinational effort against Saddam Hussein, and dramatically increased the costs of fulfilling our legitimate security obligations at home and around the world."

---

Julie Teer, a spokeswoman for the Republican State Committee, said Kerry offered "the wrong tone at the wrong time."

"President Bush is uniting America at this critical time; John Kerry is doing the exact opposite," she said. "Not only is John Kerry trying to have it both ways, since he voted for the resolution and since that time he has been trying to mask that, but moreover, it's really unfortunate he's now chosen to turn this into a partisan political issue."

http://www.primarymonitor.com/news/stories2003/031803kerry_2003.shtml

[iangb]

10. The Coalition of the Bullied and Corrupt.

Those Governments who couldn't be persuaded by threats were bought off with generous aid/trade promises.

Australia's price was the promise of a Free Trade agreement with the US. Blair seems to have been satisfied with being able to prance about Europe bragging about his 'Great Ally'.

Don't forget that the vast majority of those Coalition partners citizens were vehemently opposed to the war.

As to the UN inspection process. Both Blicks and Butler reported that the US misled their teams by submitting bad intelligence.......or on occasions none at all despite US claims of knowing the precise details and location of a particular WMD facility. Butler had the added embarrasment of having confirmed Iraqi allegations that US intelligence officers were using UNSCOM as a cover for their operatives.

[DrFunkenstein]

11. Many of the "Willing" Were Also Bullied Into Opposing The ICC

With threats of taking away their military and/or financial aid. I wonder if anyone has looked at a possible connection.

[sandnsea]

12. Answer the 70% of Americans who believe this

I'd be interested in how DUer's realistically believe we can deal with that. They believed this in March, how do we convince them they were wrong and convince them to vote for whoever the Democratic candidate is?