Kerry article in Seattle paper today

[rox63]

Friday, April 14, 2006

Kerry rekindles his anger over Iraq

By JOEL CONNELLY
P-I COLUMNIST

With its typical tendency to demean war critics, the Fox News Channel ran a line on the TV screen as it reported on Sen. John Kerry's proposal that Iraqi leaders be told to get a government together or the United States will get its troops out.

"CUT AND RUN?" the question asked, borrowing a long-ago line used by the Johnson and Nixon administrations to demonize Vietnam War doubters.

Over breakfast here on Wednesday morning, the Massachusetts senator was not about to turn the other cheek.

"We are cutting and running from the truth," Kerry said. "We are cutting and running from diplomacy. We are cutting and running from providing our troops with the arms and materiel they need."

Read the rest here: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/266694_joel14.html

[jenndar]

1. Thanks for sharing! n/t

[ginnyinWI]

2. nice article

A year in politics is indeed a lifetime.

[fedupinBushcountry]

3. Thanks for this

good article, and I like how he describes Kerry's plan, which includes a Dayton Accord type meeting.

This part blew my mind.

In an influential book, "The Best and the Brightest," David Halberstam fixed blame for Vietnam on a cocky liberal intelligentsia of the time who felt that anything -- even a war -- could be planned, programmed and managed.

Kerry sees the 21st century quagmire in Iraq as the product of a headstrong, entrenched and equally insular conservative elite in the nation's capital.

"I'll tell you what I think: It's quite personal," Kerry said. "A bunch of people who never served in the military or Vietnam -- and drew the wrong lessons from the war -- brought with them an ideological bent on the world's problems."

He singled out Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith and Richard Perle -- senior officials and advisers to a Defense Department that took over reins of postwar management in Iraq from the State Department.

Wolfowitz is now president of the World Bank, the same post to which President Johnson exiled McNamara in 1968.

"They predicted parades, and flowers strewn at the feet of our soldiers," Kerry said. "They were all ignoring the lessons of history, ancient and modern."

I just watched "Path to War", about how Johnson and McNamara got us so involved in Vietnam. When I saw the part where Johnson named McNamara to the World Bank, I thought the exact same thing, and thought to myself is Bush replaying history. Another interesting part of the movie is how Clark Clifford who was the Secretary of State did not want the war, but when he lost out in his reasoning he went along with it all, even though he knew it was the wrong thing he stood by Johnson because of loyalty. Ok, this is getting really creepy.

[ProSense]

4. Great lead! n/t

[wisteria]

5. This is a good article. Kerry is recognized as intelligent and logical.

Connelly also seems to be making a subtle suggestion that Democrats make a mistake in not re-running there good people in lieu of fresh faces, naming some famous Republicans who lost a race at one time only to go on and win later.

[benny05]

6. Good Comment here

"I'll tell you what I think: It's quite personal," Kerry said. "A bunch of people who never served in the military or Vietnam -- and drew the wrong lessons from the war -- brought with them an ideological bent on the world's problems."

He's right....:patriot: