Article on JK's Northern Ireland speech from the Derry Journal

[Island Blue]

http://www.derryjournal.com/story/8599

The article is mainly quotes from his speech - no great insight here, but it's always interesting to see how the media in other countries reports the news.

[karynnj]

1. Thanks for posting this

This summarizes what he said really well. The depth and detail goes far beyond anything here. It also concentrates on the important - rather than whether he criticizes Bush. I realized how conditioned I've become by our tabloid media, when I missed things like how the audience responded, descriptions of the tall, silver haired Senator, mention of lovely woman who accompanied him or any mention of the style with which he said things. Instead they covered what he said - far more appropriate - actually allowing people to read about his ideas. This is so much better than the AP story.

[TayTay]

2. Very nice article.

This speech was a shorter version of the one that Sen. Kerry gave before the Council on Foreign Relations in Dec in NYC. It's an excellent and well-thought out description of what is going on. I just read Francis Fukuyama's piece in the Feb. 19th NYTimes and it almost made me cry. Everything that has come to Fukuyama, a founding neo-con, as a revelation about what was wrong with the plans for the Iraq War and the 'Bush Doctrine' of pre-emptive action reads like a Kerry position paper. Every damn thing. The Neo-cons truly believed that the regimes in the Middle East were like the old Soviet Union and would collapse from their own interior rot if the West just gave them a little shove. Idiots.

Senator Kerry's view that what is going on in Iraq has to be taken within the context of the larger questions in the Islamic World is dead on. The Neo-cons are now starting to talk about trrorism as a tactic, not an entity you can wage war on. They are starting to focus in on the causes of the problems in the Middle East and the vast problems that face the people there in modernizing their countries, their economies and such. And Fukuyama finally admitted that democracy cannot be imposed from without. (That is how you get Hamas taking control of Palestine and all the giant problems that come with that.)

Sen. Kerry was right in '03-'04. I guess we can only go forward with that knowledge, but it is maddening to think that the very ideas that the Rethugs were laughing over in '04 are the things they are starting to implement in '06. (Separate topic: There has been a perceptible change in the Admin's policies in IRaq since the Dec elections and the increase in violence. They have taken US troops out of patrolling in high risk areas, but they are not yet withdrawn to safe areas. That should be coming. Things are changing, but the Admin is doing it in such a way as to not draw that much attention to it. I think they fear 'losing face' and that this would show a 'lack of resolve.' They have become trapped in their own bullshit.)