WP: Comments on Iraq War in Error, Says Kerry Aide (Jamie Rubin mistake)

[DeepModem Mom]

Thanks to liberalpragmatist, who posted in GD2004 --


Comments on Iraq War In Error, Says Kerry Aide

By Jim VandeHei
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 25, 2004; Page A08


A top national security adviser to John F. Kerry said yesterday that he made a mistake when he said the Democratic nominee probably would have launched a military invasion to oust Saddam Hussein if he had been president during the past four years.

On Aug. 7, Jamie Rubin told The Washington Post that "in all probability" a Kerry administration would have waged war against Iraq by now if the Massachusetts Democrat were president.

***

"To the extent that my own comments have contributed to misunderstanding on this issue. . . . I never should have said the phrase 'in all probability' because that's not Kerry's position and he's never said it," Rubin said in a statement. "That was my mistake."

In previous conversations, Rubin said Kerry would have handled the Iraq strategy much differently than Bush from the beginning by allowing U.N. weapons inspectors more time, attracting more allies into the effort and crafting a better postwar plan to stabilize Iraq, among other things. On Aug. 7, when pressed by a reporter about whether Kerry, like Bush, believes he still would have gone to war, Rubin said, "In all probability he would have launched a military invasion with the support of the rest of the world by now."

Some Kerry advisers said Rubin's comments played right into Bush's hands and wanted the record set straight before it exploded into a bigger political issue. Rubin, a State Department official in the Clinton administration who often travels with the candidate, agreed, aides said....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29593-2004Aug24.html

[still_one]

1. What a stupid thing to say

just when Kerry's position was getting cleared up on Iraq this guy comes along.

We cannot afford to make mis-statements like this!!!

[demoman123]

8. They are walking on eggs here.

Kerry said, "I wouldn't have gone to war the way Bush did."

If I say "I wouldn't have built that house the way you did," does that imply that I would have built that house, but in a different way? No. It implies that IF I had built that house, I would have built it in another way.

Rubin (perhaps because he is a hawk on the war?) interpreted Kerry to mean that he would have gone to war with Iraq, but in a different way from Bush. But this is not what Kerry's statement actually implies.

These fine nuances loom huge here. Why? Because Kerry is trying to be a dove and a hawk at the same time. So people--including his own flacks--can read him either way.

[On the Road]

2. Classic Example

of why candidates or campaigns should not answer hypothetical questions.

[AlGore-08.com]

3. Gotta play devil's advocate here - - this happened Aug. NINTH

and Team Kerry's only clarifying that statement NOW?

That doesn't even pass the smell test, guys.

If Rubin really mistated Kerry's basic position on the 9th, Kerry would have issued a correction immediately. It's not like nobody asked Kerry about this quote in particular or Iraq in general for the last two weeks.

[cally]

4. I don't like Rubin

I remember that after Colin Powell's performance at the UN, Rubin gave gushing praise and implied that all doubts about the war were removed. I've never trusted him since and I once liked him.

[KoKo]

5. I hope this means Kerry is distancing himself from Rubin. My respect

for Rubin has gone down after hearing him on C-Span. He seems very Hawkish to me. Maybe Kerry didn't want to trash him when he made the comment, but is now seeing that Rubin differs from Kerry's own policies.

At least I hope Rubin differs from Kerry.

Or, the least generous view might be that Kerry's campaign managers are finally listening to those of us on the left who are mad as hell and watching our worst fears about our Invasion of Iraq coming true. In that case it's opportunism by Kerry to distance himself from the imploding situation in Iraq, and the new Prisoner Abuse scandals which are coming out daily now that the soldiers are being held accountable.

I hope it's my first thought, and that Rubin is too hawkish and has really mistated Kerry's personal feelings, though. :shrug:

[AlGore-08.com]

6. No candidate lets an aide's mistatement on his policy stand uncorrected

It just doesn't happen, unless you're running the most incompetent campaign in the history of world politics. In a modern, professional campaign, the longest it takes to correct an aide's policy mistatement is an hour.

What this statement by Rubin means is that Kerry has changed his position, and he is trying to provide cover for that change, so he won't be accused of flip-flopping.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. My thoughts on Rubin are very superficial --

I haven't heard him talk extensively lately, as on C-Span, so don't know his relative hawkishness -- but he's married to Christiane Amanpour, who I greatly admire; he's really worked hard for the campaign, at some personal cost, as he and Christiane have a small child in London, and that makes him, needless to say, a bit of a "househusband"; and, I attended a private-home campaign event at which he was a headliner, and the women there all agreed that he is one good looking man!