(Three guys on the list were talking about the "global test" and calling it a gaffe.)
My first message:
I'm not sure I understand how Kerry's words about "passing a global test" can be construed as an error in the context of Senator Kerry's overall statements. I thought Kerry did a superb job of establishing his view that, once Congress gave the President discretion to deploy force, Bush could have used that discretion as a tool. He could have used it both to effect 'diplomacy' with Iraq, and to actually engage more allies in a real coalition. I am looking at the transcript now:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/debatereferee/debate_0930.htmlKerry: "You can't tell me that on the day that we went into that war and it started -- it was principally the United States, the America and Great Britain and one or two others. That's it. And today, we are 90 percent of the casualties and 90 percent of the costs. And meanwhile, North Korea has got nuclear weapons. Talk about mixed messages."
I thought, watching the debate with rapt attention and pondering every sentence each man spoke, that Kerry's "Global Test" was a very nice way of summing up the test that Bush has failed.
In response, during the debate, Bush twice enumerated our major allies who remain in the War on Terror:
1. Great Britain
2. Poland
I have to tell you, I couldn't pay attention for a few seconds after each of the times he made these statements. I was laughing too hard.
I also am puzzled by the Bush statement at the end of the debate. He said:
"We've climbed the mighty mountain. I see the valley below, and it's a valley of peace."
I could be wrong, but this sure seems to me like a reference to the story of Joshua leading the people of Israel back to the Holy Land, from Joshua 8, and I was once Christian enough to take a year of religion at a bible college...
http://www.bartleby.com/108/06/8.htmlWhy is the President making analogies between himself and an Old Testament prophet?
(And there was another email reply in here where I hadn't made myself clear.)
My reply to be more clear:
Not exactly, but close enough. Kerry brought up the 'global test' in response to the question of preemptive war. In that context, I believe Kerry was saying that the question a decision on preemptive war should pass is the same test that the war in Iraq failed at the outset. I think Kerry was comparing what Bush has done in Iraq with what Kerry would do in a hypothetical situation under the same claimed circumstances, but with honest claims. Remember, Iraq was falsely sold as a preemptive war.
The "Global Test" that the Iraq war failed is that we did not exhaust global diplomacy and did not have an honest international consensus when we began. I believe Kerry was saying that he would not begin a comparably preemptive war without consensus from our allies that such was appropriate, and also that he would use diplomacy before war.
Kerry was SO good. I was so moved by his leadership that I actually thought to myself: if we need a draft to defend America, and Kerry had to call it, I'd go. I trust that man. I've never thought a anything like that about military service in my life; but if he told us we needed to defend the nation, I would believe that. I'm not sure I could ever bring myself to actually shoot at a person, so maybe I could be a typist for victory or something...
Whereas clearly the current guy is just wasting people.