No more Kerry's...

[karynnj]

118. Kerry spoke of the vote being wrong before Hillary or Edwrds

The fact is that Kerry when he voted as he did spoke of the promises Bush made and said if they were not followed, he would speak out. He did - On January 22, he spoke at Georgetown saying that we should "not rush to war". He said it would not be a war of last resort.

This was a Catholic (Jesuit) University where most - if not all - of the audience would know just how strong saying something was not a war of last resort is. It means it is an immoral or unjust war.

Not to mention, it is not at all clear that Dean would have not voted the same. In October 2002, he said that he prefered the SFRC resolution - Biden/Lugar - just as Kerry did. But that was not the bill voted on. Dean's own preference, for a resolution would have been even easier for Bush to have violated.

Here is what he said on Face the Nation on September 29, 2002, shortly before the IWR vote.

HOWARD DEAN: It’s very simple. Here’s what we ought to have done. We should have gone to the UN Security Council. We should have asked for a resolution to allow the inspectors back in with no pre-conditions. And then we should have given them a deadline, saying, ‘If you don’t do this, say, within 60 days, we will reserve our right as Americans to defend ourselves and we will go into Iraq.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/1879
(I can't find the FTN interview as it appears to no longer be on line. This is a link to David Swanson's post of many Dean statements. Swanson was a co-founder of AfterDowningStreet.org - so this should be an acceptable source for a quote that was in the mainstream media back in 2002.

Dean said he would support Biden/Lugar, Kerry's preferred resolution and there was no quote I could find in 2004 where Dean said before or even shortly after the IWR that he would vote against it. Both Kerry and Dean ruled out invasion for regime change. The biggest difference was that Kerry had to vote.

The similarity was that neither had they been President would have taken us to war. From some quotes, Edwards would have.