"I would have done almost everything differently" Let's make a list

[Tom Rinaldo]

With Iraq deteriorating daily, and with pundits of almost every stripe virtually in agreement that Kerry has not articulated a clear enough Iraq policy, Kerry, INHO, needs to flesh out that stump speech statement about his disagreements with Bush over Iraq. It could, maybe should, form the basis of a major policy address. So, specifically, what would Kerry have done differently than Bush? Not Kucinich, not Dean, not Clark, but John Kerry. Not history the way some of us may have wanted it to be, but history as it likely would have been had John Kerry, not George Bush, been President. I think drawing up a very specific list of differences in judgment, timing and overall policy objectives contrasting George Bush and John Kerry would be helpful right around now. I would appreciate help brainstorming them.

I am not always best at remembering exact dates and names, so all clarification is welcome.

A few:
Sending in American Forces rather than relying on questionable war lords, to capture Bin Ladin in the mountains of Afghanistan.

Agreeing to the request of the non aligned Security Council nations in the UN for an additional few weeks of inspections in return for their support of a tough UN ultimatum resolution against Iraq, rather than launching the invasion when Bush did.

Allowing the State Department, rather than the Pentagon, to develop the plans for post invasion stability and security in Iraq.

Listening to the Army chief of Staff who estimated that 300,000 American troops would be needed in post war Iraq.

Listening to the C.I.A who warned that Chalabis could not be trusted rather than buying into the neocon love affair with him.

Recognizing quickly, that charges of human rights abuses against prison detained Iraq citizens represented a huge potential crisis that could undermine the entire credibility of the U.S. mission in Iraq and our standing in the Islamic world, and responding forcibly and appropriately to them within weeks, not continuing the coverup.

Ensuring that our armed forces had the needed protective equipment to minimize U.S. losses in Iraq.

Others?

[sui generis]

1. NUMBER ONE

1. I would not have confused al qaeda and terrorism with Iraq.

1. I would not have asked America to pay the human cost of war without undeniable evidence of weapons of mass destruction in any country.

1. I would not have gone to war pre-emptively anywhere until I had Bin Laden; one mess at a time.

1. Regime change in Afghanistan means giving the warlords ultimatums too.

1. I would not have sold out America's respect and leadership in the world arena by exercising "decisive" bad leadership, by threats and intimidation in the U.N., and by coercion and mockery of Europe, by throwing hissy fits every time an ally made a choice not to help us or to opt out of our grand plan of insanity.

[Tom Rinaldo]

2. Invite UN to take the leading Iraq role early post invasion,..

... not fight it every step of the way, giving in partially only as a desperate last option ploy to patch together a new sham interim Iraq government.

Face up front the true momentary costs of a go it alone Iraq strategy, and factor that into decision making, rather than censoring budget office officials who accurately predict the scale of expenditures, relying instead on wildly optimistic estimates of Iraq oil paying for virtually the whole operation.

Replace a Secretary of Defense who consistently made disastrous miscalculations.

[Tom Rinaldo]

3. It includes seemingly "minor" decisions made by Bush and Company

Such as:

Failure to protect Iraq infrastructure from looting after the invasion, OTHER than the ministry of Oil.

Contracts for the reconstruction of Iraq that gave undue rewards to large American Corporations rather than placing a priority on enlisting the Iraq people in their own reconstruction.

Net result, full confirmation that we invaded Iraq to profit from their oil, rather than to help their people, in the eyes of the Arab and beyond world.

Also:

Pulling trained translators and special forces out of Afghanistan and the hunt for Bin Ladin and sending them to Iraq to search for WMD.

Failure to secure catches of captured conventional weapons in our mad dash to find unconventional weapons, providing the insurgency with all of the fire power they needed to kill Americans and terrorize the public.

Quickly disbanding virtually the entire Iraq Army, who by and large had heeded our call to not fight for Hussein, resulting in wide spread unemployment, poverty and bitterness toward Americans.

Showing no regard for the families of those placed in prison after countless security sweeps, by not bothering to make information available to them about the fate of their loved ones for months afterward following their detention.

[Roland99]

4. Would have

allowed inspections to continue in Iraq.

sent intelligence groups into Syria to check for WMDs there, too.

[Tom Rinaldo]

5. Bush's subversion of the Geneva Accords vis a vis "insurgents"

Resulting in a climate that contributed to and even condoned prison abuses.

Bush's dogged reliance on "Private Contractors" to do the work of military integrators fed the same disastrous results.

[A_Possum]

6. Whoops, didn't see this list thread

When I started mine! I wasn't copying, promise!

To add to THIS list:

Not making the mistake of immediately disbanding the Iraqi army/polic and allowing chaos to result.

[Tom Rinaldo]

7. Regarding tactics

Wouldn't have stationed major troop concentrations in Turkey for a planned Northern front for Iraq invasion without nailing down Turkish cooperation for that plan.

[Tom Rinaldo]

8. Oh yeah, this one is fun

Kerry would have at least talked with the American President who coordinated world support for America during the Gulf War, George Bush Senior, (unlike Junior who claims he saw no need to consult his father).

[Tom Rinaldo]

9. Kerry would have reassured other regional powers in the Mid East

That the U.S. was not specifically out gunning for them too, that they would be rewarded for true cooperation, and that their legitimate security interests would be recognized. The Bush hyper macho foreign policy ensured that Iraq's neighboring states would do as much as they can possibly get away with to help bog down the U.S. in a failed military effort, because they (Iran and Syria in particular) were given every reason to believe that they were next to be invaded after we pacified Iraq. That ensured porous borders between Syria and Iraq to help those who would resist the U.S. in Iraq, and Iranian support for radical anti-U.S. Shiites in Iraq. It also stiffened Iranian resolve to go nuclear now while the U.S. is bogged down.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

10. Rule No. 1. A War must be fought for a righteous cause.

All else falls into place. No righteous cause? No coalition.