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[Luftmensch067]

John Kerry, Wikileaks Bellweather?

Mark Leon Goldberg - July 25, 2010 - 10:54 pm

The reactions to the massive Wikileaks document dump will be fascinating to view during the next few days. So far, the administration's response is to condemn the leaks while also noting that most of the revealed documents stem from the Bush era. Specifically, the White House advised reporters:

"The period of time covered in these documents (January 2004-December 2009) is before the President announced his new strategy. Some of the disconcerting things reported are exactly why the President ordered a three month policy review and a change in strategy."

One person to watch these next few days is John Kerry, the influential chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Kerry was initially supportive of the counter-insurgency strategy Obama laid out in his West Point speech nearly one year ago. But in recent weeks, Kerry has been cautiously expressing some doubts.

Goldberg links to AP reporting about the SFRC hearing with Holbrooke, which describes Chairman Kerry's opening remarks at that hearing as somber in tone, while noting that he indicated on that occasion that now was not the time to give up on Afghanistan. ("'Some suggest this is a lost cause," he said. "But grim as the statistics are, heartbreaking as every death is, this is not the time to give up.'")

More of the post here:
http://www.undispatch.com/node/10078