Kerry ignores the weapons inspectors work in Iraq

[dennis4868]

Why doesn't Kerry say that Bush was wrong to invade Iraq because inspections were moving along smoothly, no weapons were being found, Sadaam was cooperating, and therefore the war was unnecessary....yes, I voted for the IWR but that was because I wanted to put pressure on Saddam to allow the inspectors in. He never says this.....he simply says that the way Bush prosecuted the war was a mistake and that Bush did not work with other copuntries to get a true coalition.

Is it because the UN is not so popular with the independent voters and he does not want to upset them?

This makes me mad because we were all lied to about the reasons for war and Bush is not being held accountable for it, not even by the democratic nominee for president.

And please dont tell me he talks about this....if you can find me a transcript from a Kerry speech from the last 3 months where he mentions this I will give my first born...well maybe not....but you know what I mean!

[AWhitneyBrown]

1. This is part of his standard stump speech.

He uses it in the context of one of the "I would have done everything differently...." He also mentions in every speech that if we had given the weapons inspectors time to finish, we would also have been able to get more allies. I don't know how you or anyone could miss this and it makes me think you're being disingenuous.
This forum is so filled with people pretending to be something other than what they are that I hardly visit it anymore, not saying that applies to you, perhaps you're just a poor listener.

[dennis4868]

2. well maybe I am a poor listener.....

but i listen carefully to every speech Kerry has been giving the past 3 months and I have never heard him say "we should have given the inspectors more time to do their job and if they were allowed to complete the job we would not be in the mess we are in today in Iraq."

I have looked at the transcripts and dont see it. Perhaps 8 months ago he was saying this but my point is he has not gone this route the past 3 months at least.

Please dont attack people here just because you are smarter than everyone else...if I am wrong then great...i will be happy if I am wrong....but all i hear Kerry saying these days about Iraq is that he would have done everything differently than Bush and that he would not have rushed to war until he had gotten a real coalition. Tell me where he has recently said that the inspections were going great (as they were) and that he would have given more time? I said recently...like the last 2-3 months? This is what I am talking about.

[AWhitneyBrown]

3. Alright, here is the work I did, that you could have done yourself

From: http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0908a.html

September 8, 2004, Cincinnati, OH

“George W. Bush made the wrong choices,” Kerry said. “He himself now admits he miscalculated in Iraq. In truth, his miscalculation was ignoring the advice that was given to him, including the best advice of America’s own military. When he didn’t like what he was hearing, he even fired the Army Chief of Staff. His miscalculation was going to war without taking every precaution and without giving the inspectors time. His miscalculation was going to war without planning carefully and without the allies we should have had.”

Now, you can say he should have checked here and got the exact wording from your post, but keep in mind that he has a lot to talk about and the news orgs only play a few seconds of every speech, so he has to keep it short.

You could have checked this yourself, of course, but that would involve some effort.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

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[Octafish]

5. Such a nice thing to say.

Get some manners.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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

[dennis4868]

8. scaredamurikan

I think many of us here are a bit on the edge lately with everything getting hot and heavy the past few weeks with this election....i just think when someone has a question and perhaps it may not be the best question in the world it is no excuse for some people (not you) to get snotty about it....

[AWhitneyBrown]

9. Yeah, my manners are poor, and my patience is thin.

But when someone says they have listened to every speech Kerry has given in the past two or three months and they didn't hear this, I just find that hard to believe, since he says this or something like it in nearly every speech.
And by the way, he did not vote to go to war. To anyone who claims that, why don't you take a moment to review the 45 minute speech Kerry gave from the Senate floor before casting that vote? I think you might find you have been sadly misinformed by the Republicans on that score. That speech is a must read if you want to know where Kerry stands on this issue, and he has not wavered from his position in all the time since.

[dennis4868]

10. he did not vote to go to war

right on....that is the problem with the media....they keep saying he voted for the war....no, he voted to authorize the war if the inspections were not working out....The media is making Bush's job easier by lting about Kerry's positions....sicKENING.

thanks for the find...i listened to that speech while at work and must have missed it....thanks again.

[dennis4868]

7. AWhitneyBrown

THANKS....that did not come up when I did a Lexis/Nexis search....why do you have to make such a snotty comment like this:

"You could have checked this yourself, of course, but that would involve some effort."

I htought we were all on the same side and this is a place where we can discus this issues and become more informed from posters like yourself....you dont have to be mean about it....what is your problem?

[AWhitneyBrown]

11. Well...

Yeah, alright then. Peace. I just get sick of people buying into all the spin and misinformation. Nothing personal. And there are so many troublemakers, doomsayers, spinners, backseat drivers, and second guessers on this board I just have come to doubt everyone's sincerity. That's why I rarely post; I know my manners are bad.

[AWhitneyBrown]

14. By the way, I have a question as well.

My question is, how on earth do so many people get 1000 plus posts on this board? It must take hundreds of hours! There is a great post on Daily Kos about canvassing your precinct - part of it is reposted here. Check it out. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/9/11/153934/767
I just spent a week in Missouri and am going back for three more weeks to do events and help GOTV. There is so much that can be done. At this stage in the campaign, leather on the sidewalk is a better investment than fingers on the keyboard, if you know what I mean.

[dennis4868]

16. we get it 1000 posts....

because we have alot to say about Bush and politics in general....if i did not post my thoughts I would have to bother my wife with it and i get on her nerves enough....hahaha.....

[oasis]

12. When Kerry says "Bush took us to war the wrong way" he is including Bush's

dismissal of Hans Blix and the UN.

[dennis4868]

13. you are probably right.....

but he just does not come out and flatly say it....except of course the one example above by another poster on this thread....i think he does not say it all that much because if he does then Bush will say, "well if Kerry had his way Saddam would still be in power and that Kerry is weak on defense."

[AWhitneyBrown]

15. Bush says that anyway.

And Kerry has said this about the inspectors many times and continues to say it.

[AWhitneyBrown]

17. This is why my manners are bad.

You claim you have a question, but you actually make a statement "Kerry ignoring weapons inspectors", backing it up by claiming to have read every transcript, Lexis-Nexus, and listened to every speech, clearly all lies, since you didn't.
I refute your statement,(it took 90 seconds of research at johnkerry.com) then you fall back by claiming you were only asking a question, when in fact, see the title of this thread, you were making a false statement.
Now you're back to mimimizing your error claiming "that except for that one example", and positing reasons for why he never does. In a few more posts you will be back to claiming that Kerry never mentions the weapons inspectors.
Insert the snotty comment of your choice here, please.

[Kimber Scott]

19. The original poster appears to be a Naderite.

I don't know why they don't have their own discussion board - somewhere other than here.

[dennis4868]

23. ouch.....

i just got called a naderite....yeck...i hate that guy...he gets under my skin....please take that back or I will scream!

I can tell you that I volunteer 6 hours of the day, 5 days a week for Kerry ay his local office near my home.....so i am a Kerryite? Is that how you say it?

[Kimber Scott]

27. Ok. You're a Kerryist.

Sorry for the misunderstanding.

[dennis4868]

20. Kerry never mentions wepaons inspectors.....

just kidding....listen you gave me one example and
This way Bush is the one on the defensive havig to explain how he did not lie to the american people about the reasons for war and Kerry would have an out and a damn good explanation for voting for the IWR....this is the way I thought he was going to go in explaining his Iraq vote.....instead he has put nimself on the defenssive and that makes me angry....it should be the war criminal Bush having to explain the illegal invasion of Iraq.

This is why I think je should be hammering home the fact that Bush should have allowed the insprectors to finnish their because if he did we would not have 1000 dead soldiers now...he is not hammering this idea home.

So maybe you are correct that Kerry has talked about the inspections at times during his speches but I sure don't hear it all thew time and get the feeling that he is hammering home this point....he should be going all over the country with this message! PUT BUSH ON THE DFENSIVE....get my drift?

[AWhitneyBrown]

21. Yeah, well, that's about as weak as it gets.

As far as back-pedaling goes. Just admit you're busted, why don't you?

[dennis4868]

22. you busted me an hour ago....

what else do you want?

I thank you again for showing me the errors of my ways....that is one of the best things about DU....there are very knowledgeable people here and if someone does not have all the fcats someone else ususally does...so keep posting...thanks....just be nice about it.....our enemy is Bush...lets use all our anger at him!

[AWhitneyBrown]

24. Bush is not the enemy.

Ignorance, apathy, hate, greed, lies, the corporate media. Those are the enemies. If one person could screw up the country by himself, then it's already too late. And it isn't.

[dennis4868]

25. Ignorance, apathy, hate, greed, lies,

that pretty much sums up Bush....one person can screw up the country if there are no checks and balances, right. Bush does whatever the hell he wants and the media and congress do not hold him accountable....however, just like one person can screw it up, one person can put it back together....a president has that power. And I pray to god that Kerry has that chance....and yes, Bush is a evil man, a murderer, lier and constitution hater....that is evil...he is our enemy!

[oasis]

18. Kerry has mentioned Bush's "go it alone" policy in many speeches. Because

of time restaints, Kerry often has to skip some of the details in the saga of Bush's march to war.

[sandnsea]

26. Two, two...

Two trolls in one!!!

[ParanoidPat]

28. LOL! I guess he should have tried Google!

Results 1 - 10 of about 317,000 for Kerry, speech, text. (0.27 seconds) :shrug: :evilgrin:


Remarks to the 86th Annual American Legion Convention September 1, 2004

<Snip>

So when the president says we have the same position on Iraq, I have to respectfully disagree. Our differences couldn’t be plainer. And I have set them out consistently. When it comes to Iraq, it’s not that I would have done one thing differently, I would’ve done almost everything differently.

I would have relied on American troops in Tora Bora when we had Bin Laden in our sights. I never would have diverted resources so quickly from Afghanistan before finishing the job.

I would’ve given the inspectors the time they needed to do the job.

I wouldn’t have ignored my senior military advisors.

I would’ve made sure that every soldier put in harm’s way had the equipment and body armor they needed.

I would have built a strong, broad coalition of our allies around the world.

And, if there’s one thing I learned from my service, I would never have gone to war without a plan to win the peace.

The bottom line is that if I don’t believe we had to be shouldering nearly the entire financial cost of this war – more than $200 billion – and shortchanging investments in education, health care, and our safety at home.

<More>

Text of Kerry Speech on Iraq War, Cincinatti, Ohio, September 8, 2004

<Snip>

Twenty-three months ago, President Bush came here to ask the American people for our support. And he promised then to make the right choices when it came to sending young Americans to Iraq.

Here in Cincinnati, he said that if Congress approved the resolution giving him the authority to use force, it did not mean that military action would be “unavoidable”. But he chose not to give the weapons inspectors the time they needed to get the job done and give meaning to the words, going to war as a last resort.

Here in Cincinnati, he promised “to lead a coalition.” But he failed to build a broad, strong coalition of allies and he rushed to war without a plan to win the peace.

Here in Cincinnati, from this hall, on that night, he spoke to the nation, and promised: “If we have to act, we will take every precaution that is possible. We will plan carefully. We will act with the full power of the United States military. We will act with allies at our side and we will prevail.”

But then, George W. Bush made the wrong choices. He himself now admits he miscalculated in Iraq. In truth, his miscalculation was ignoring the advice that was given to him, including the best advice of America’s own military. When he didn’t like what he was hearing, he even fired the Army Chief of Staff. His miscalculation was going to war without taking every precaution and without giving the inspectors time. His miscalculation was going to war without planning carefully and without the allies we should have had. As a result, America has paid nearly 90% of the bill in Iraq. Contrast that with the Gulf War, where our allies paid 95% of the costs.

George W. Bush’s wrong choices have led America in the wrong direction in Iraq and left America without the resources we need here at home. The cost of the President’s go-it-alone policy in Iraq is now $200 billion and counting. $200 billion for Iraq, but they tell us we can’t afford after-school programs for our children. $200 billion for Iraq, but they tell us we can’t afford health care for our veterans. $200 billion for Iraq, but they tell us we can’t afford to keep the 100,000 new police we put on the streets during the 1990s.

<More>

Lots more where those came from if you just take the time to look! :)

[blm]

29. I've heard him say it many times.

.