Kennedy on Iraq

[ProSense]

Seems while the Senate is out he's the point man:

March 18, 2006

KENNEDY ON THE THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF THE WAR IN IRAQ

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Laura Capps/Melissa Wagoner [phone]
"On its third year anniversary, it is clearer than ever that Iraq was a war we never should have fought. The Administration has been dangerously incompetent and its Iraq policy is not worthy of the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. Yet, President Bush continues to see the war through the same rose-colored glasses he's always used. He assures the American people that we are winning while Iraq's future and the lives of our troops hang so perilously on the precipice of a new disaster.

Our highest priority must be achieving a broad-based political settlement to prevent a downward spiral into civil war. American initiative can be decisive in this effort and the President should lead, not by waging a public relations campaign, but by pulling the factions together right away in a summit to develop a unified plan for Iraq's future. Our troops, who are at serious risk of being caught in a civil war, deserve nothing less."

March 19, 2006

SENATOR KENNEDY RESPONDS TO VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY'S ATTACKS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Laura Capps/Melissa Wagoner [phone]
Washington, D.C. -- Today, on CBS's Face the Nation, Bob Schieffer asked Vice President Cheney to respond to Senator Kennedy's statement that the Administration has been dangerously incompetent and its policy in Iraq is not worthy of the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform. The Vice President used his usual line of personal attacks by claiming that "what Senator Kennedy reflects is sort of the pre-9/11mentality." He contended that his past assertions that Americans would be greeted as liberators and that the insurgency was in its last throes "were basically accurate and reflect reality." Senator Kennedy was the first senator to outline a comprehensive argument against the war and has consistently challenged the Administration's policies. Today, Vice President Cheney that "Ted Kennedy has been wrong from the beginning."

In response, Senator Kennedy said, "Vice President Cheney has been consistently wrong about the war in Iraq. He's called the shots on a dangerously incompetent strategy. He was wrong about the link between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. He was wrong about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. He was wrong about America being greeted as liberators. He was wrong about the insurgency being in its last throes. Now he rejects the idea of civil war. The American people understand the clear lessons of 9-11. Al Qaeda is the greatest threat to our national security. The war in Iraq has increased support for Al Qaeda and made America more hated in the world. America is less safe because the Bush Administration lost its focus and waged a war in Iraq we never should have fought."

March 20, 2006

STATEMENT BY SENATOR KENNEDY ON PRESIDENT BUSH'S IRAQ SPEECH

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Laura Capps/Melissa Wagoner [phone]
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy released the following statement on President Bush's speech on Iraq:

"We all hope for success in Iraq, but the President's 2006 version of the "Mission Accomplished" strategy is hardly reassuring. The President seems blinded from reality by his misguided optimism.

He continues to justify his incomprehensible decision to go to war, when all available evidence proves that the decision was a colossal mistake that has been followed by blunder after blunder.

He failed to act against the Iraqi insurgency before it was too late.

He waited a year to begin training the Iraqi security forces.

He failed to see the danger of improvised explosive devices and sent our troops into battle year after year without proper protection.

Now he fails to see the very real possibility that Iraq will continue the downward spiral into full-scale civil war.

Three months after the election, there is still no new Iraqi government. The President should work with the Arab League and the United Nations to convene a high level summit that will bring the Iraqi political factions together to form a broad-based government.

Our men and women in the armed forces are serving with great skill and courage, and they deserve no less. "

March 22, 2006

KENNEDY: AMERICA DOESN'T NEED A SALESMAN ON IRAQ
STATEMENT BY SENATOR KENNEDY ON PRESIDENT BUSH'S IRAQ SPEECH


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Laura Capps/Melissa Wagoner [phone]
"Despite the latest White House sales campaign, the American people have rightly lost confidence in President Bush's disastrous handling of Iraq. He misled the American people about the need for war, and mishandled the insurgency as it began to erupt, and shamefully failed even to supply our troops with the basic armor they needed to protect themselves from roadside explosives. America doesn't need a salesman for a dangerously incompetent policy -- we need leadership and a policy that can succeed."

Posted on Thu, Mar. 23, 2006

A time bomb of civil war is ticking

BY EDWARD M. KENNEDY
www.kennedy.senate.gov

Three years ago we began the war in Iraq, and it's clearer than ever it's a war we never should have fought.

Our men and women in uniform have served admirably under enormously difficult circumstances. We salute each and every one of them. We mourn the more than 2,300 Americans who have been killed in action, and our hearts go out to the more than 17,000 who have been wounded.

Snip...

President Bush continues to see Iraq through the same rose-colored glasses that he has always used. He assures the American people that we are winning, even though even his policies have been dangerously incompetent and Iraq's future and the lives of our troops hang so perilously on the precipice of a new disaster.

Snip...

Three years into the war, it's scandalous that electricity and oil production are still below pre-war levels.

The patience of the American people is wearing thin. It will soon be three years since ''Mission Accomplished,'' and it's hard to see progress. That clearly must change.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy is the senior Democratic senator from Massachusetts.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/14164015.htm

Op-ed posted here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2530837&mesg_id=2530837

[wisteria]

1. I heard or saw no coverage of any of these responses from Kennedy. n/t

[ProSense]

2. Media giving very little coverage

Bush is making series of speeches to help boost his sagging approval numbers and reassure Americans that he has a strategy for Iraq and the war on terror. Bush said the best way to defend America is to stay on the offensive, and he cautioned Americans against forgetting about the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

His remarks were quickly denounced by Democrats.

"Despite the latest White House sales campaign, the American people have rightly lost confidence in President Bush's disastrous handling of Iraq," Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said.

"America doesn't need a salesman for a dangerously incompetent policy," Kennedy said. "We need leadership and a policy that can succeed."


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/3742095.html

Cheney vs. Kennedy
Boston Globe, United States - Mar 20, 2006
Cheney, on the CBS program ''Face the Nation," was responding to Kennedy's statement that the United States should not have gone into Iraq. ...

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2006/03/21/cheney_vs_kennedy?p1=MEWell_Pos4

[karynnj]

3. I don't think I've seen these quotes in the NYT

though they may be buried in some article. There was no coverage of the Democrats response to Bush in a seperate article - which would be customary.