Kerry Clashes with Bush Over Iraq Vote

[papau]

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/politics/politics-campaign-kerry.html

Kerry Clashes with Bush Over Iraq Vote
By REUTERS

Filed at 11:14 p.m. ET

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry said on Tuesday he had been consistent on Iraq and had voted to authorize the use of force because the United States needed to stand up to Saddam Hussein.

But the Massachusetts senator told a rally at the University of Nevada Las Vegas that he would have done it ``right.''

President Bush accused Kerry of shifting positions on the Iraq war after the Democrat said on Monday he would have voted to give the president authorization to use military force even if he had known no weapons of mass destruction would be found.

``I read somewhere that the Bush folks were trying to say that we changed positions, this that,'' Kerry said. ``I've been consistent all along and I thought that the United States needed to stand up to Saddam Hussein and I voted to stand up to Saddam Hussein, but I thought we should do it right.''

``I thought we ought to reach out to other countries, we ought to build an international coalition, we ought to exhaust the remedies available to us.''<snip>

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Bush.html

Bush Challenges Kerry on Iraq Withdrawal
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 10:19 a.m. ET

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) -- President Bush opposes Democratic rival John Kerry's timetable for withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq and Sen. John McCain suggested Wednesday that even more troops may be needed.

Kerry said this week that he hoped to begin reducing U.S. troop strength in Iraq within six months of taking office, if elected, but that it would depend on broader international assistance, better stability in Iraq and other factors.

Bush dismissed the plan as a politically driven one that would cut short the mission and aid the enemy.

``The key is not to set artificial timelines,'' Bush said Tuesday while campaigning for re-election in Niceville, Fla. He said the Massachusetts senator's plan would signal the enemy that, ``Gosh, all we've got to do is wait them out.''

[wtmusic]

1. Junior's June 30th timeline wasn't artificial, for example

all Iraqis took note and declared themselves "sovereign" :eyes:

[sandnsea]

2. Gee, no response?

Interesting. Kerry did say and mean exactly what he's always said. He voted to give Bush the authority he needed to handle Saddam and Bush abused it and bungled it. Nothing new here.

[demoman123]

3. "Within 6 months"? This is news to me.

Of course, he only "hopes" to do it, contingent on blah blah.

[Rebel_with_a_cause]

4. I get goosebumps whenever I read "Kerry clashes with Bush over..."

The only way to deal with these thugs is to constantly hit them with the facts. Kerry must continue to do this so that the public understands his stance clearly over the din of the GOP's muddlemachine.