For the record: Kerry never said he would've invaded Iraq

[stray cat]

Media and GOP are stating that Kerry said he would've invaded Iraq and even some DUers appear to believe them. This is based on the fact that one person campaigning for Kerry when pressed said "yes, he thought Kerry might have invaded Iraq. Kerry denouced the statement within 24 hours and reiterated again his position to have handled the whole Iraq fiasco different from President Bush.

[elfin]

1. That's right

He differentiates the vote to "give the authority" to the President (which he has anyway) to go to war if absolutely necessary and voting to "go to war." The authority was supposed to be a bargaining chip with Saddam - to make the inspections more valid - and use the time to box him in and gain alliances.

Instead, the inspectors were pulled and well - you know the rest.

[tandot]

2. Kerry gave authority to Bush to make the decision to go to war

It was up to Bush to get our allies involved and make sure that our soldiers have everything necessary to fight a successful war. It was Bush's responsibility to come up with a feasible plan before he puts our soldiers on Iraqi soil.

The mistake Kerry and so many others made is to assume that the current President of the United States of America was competent and smart enough to make such a decision. They didn't count on all those neo-con chicken hawks who were more than eager to spill our soldiers' lives for their gain.

[Monte Carlo]

3. The brinkmanship practiced by Clinton during the 90's kept Saddam in check

It was a dangerous game, but Clinton could pull it off without having things boil over. Kerry was very much aligned with Clinton on this back then.

W. had no intention of keeping this process stable, but he made the big show that he would.

[liberalnurse]

4. Let us all remember....

*bush did invade Iraq........

[unfrigginreal]

5. Oh goody, a new topic for debate

it's about time we address this on DU.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wurzel]

7. For the record: he has never said he wouldn't have either.

We have nowhere to go with this.

[Monte Carlo]

10. I think you're being too pessimistic.

Never saying he wouldn't have invaded Iraq is not the same thing as saying he would have invaded Iraq, not in politics. We have plenty of space to go with this.

[sandnsea]

15. Actually, he has

He has said that if he were President and the circumstances were exactly the same, he wouldn't have invaded. He and Edwards both said it in that 60 minutes interview they did after Edwards was chosen for VP.

[Algorem]

8. Mark Shields said Kerry'd be 10 points ahead if he was campaigning a-

gainst the war,David Brooks said 5 pts. last week on the PBS Newshour. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/political_wrap/july-dec04/sb_9-1.html (14th paragraph down)just been wanting to throw that in somewhere.

[Cha]

9. I know he didn't and that gets lost in all the steaming

pile of deluge that the right wing propoganda, big lie machine, media is forklifting on the American public.

I remember reading something on du not too long ago that quoted Jamie Rubin as saying that he got it wrong when he said Kerry said that.

I didn't follow up on that to find out who Jamie Rubin is. But it sounded like it was a misquote from Kerry. I hope Kerry himself as followed up on that and straightened the myth out.

[Kahuna]

11. He also has never said that he wouldn't.

nt

[Voltaire99]

12. Try a little honesty instead: Kerry is pro-invasion, pro-occupation

Kerry's Iraq position is nutty and a little bit slutty.

Kerry seems to have been one of the few intellectuals in the Western world who believed in the neocon's preposterous lies about Iraq. The New Yorker reported a few weeks ago that at Al Franken's party, people confronting Kerry on his pro-invasion vote were told, over and over, that he "believed" the president's WMD fictions. That's either naive or cynical, or perhaps both.

Several weeks ago Kerry averred that he "might" have invaded Iraq had he been president. This was followed by a trial balloon floated by the pathetic Jamie Rubin, who said "knowing then what he knows today" Kerry would have authorized the war "in all probability." That balloon was sent up as part of the Reporting For Duty strategy, to see if it would yank a few more NASCAR Dads into the Kerry column.

Only Kerry's declining poll numbers and the left's indignation about his Bush-lite position on war (among other issues) have compelled his latest Iraq position, which isn't much of an improvement. It hardly helps to disavow Rubin's remarks if, as he did today, Kerry says he'll "try" to bring American troops home from Iraq in four years. This, presumably, because Kerry will "internationalize" the occupation; as we all know, our former allies are just itching to send their troops to die in our place.

Four more years of occupying Iraq! Forget being the last person to die for a mistake. How do you ask Americans to spend at least another four years dying for a mistake?

[Zhade]

13. Correct. He would have given b*sh authority to "mislead" him again.

Not as bad as invading, but not a brilliant statement, either!

[Zhade]

14. Could you please link me to where Kerry denounced the statement?

As you can see, my signature says otherwise - and this was after I posted numerous times asking for a source that discusses Kerry having denounced Rubin's comments.

No one was ever able to point me to a source.

Since you allege Kerry has denounced Rubin's remarks, perhaps you have the source I've been hunting for?