None other than liberal Democrat Ed Koch agrees that Kerry is, indeed, wussy in war... and that wussy in war is not a good thing...
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Sunday, August 22, 2004
By Aaron Klein
"While I don't agree with Bush on a single domestic issue, they are all trumped by the issue of terrorism, where he has enunciated the Bush Doctrine and proven his ability to fight this war," said Koch. "The Democratic Party just doesn't have the stomach to go after terrorists."
Koch, now a partner in a Manhattan law firm, was mayor of New York from 1978-89, and served for nine years as a U.S. congressman until 1977. He's known for his liberal views on various issues, including his staunch support of same-sex marriage and leftist ideas for the economy and environment. While he has in the past deviated from conventional liberal thinking, strongly supporting the death penalty and taking a hard line on "quality of life" issues, Koch has always supported Democratic presidential candidates. But the former mayor says he was sickened by what he witnessed at the Democratic National Convention last month and now feels the Democratic Party is moving in the wrong direction. "I saw Kerry surrounded by radical politicians like [former President Jimmy] Carter and [Sen. Ted] Kennedy. ... I know Kerry will succumb to their pressure if elected. They are with Kerry not because they like him, but because their true candidate Howard Dean couldn't get elected, and they wanted someone who they can have elected and dominate," charged Koch. "As long as Kennedy and Robert Byrd are considered major leaders of the Democratic Party, and while we're seeing radical candidates like Howard Dean, whose radical-left supporters have been described by the press as 'Deaniacs,' the Democratic Party will be limited in its ability to serve the country well in times of crisis and war like we face now." Koch thinks Kerry is putting on a facade by campaigning as tough on terrorism, and worries the Democratic nominee plans to pull American troops from Iraq prematurely, signaling to al-Qaida and terror-supporting Mideast dictators that the U.S. doesn't have the will to fight terrorism. "Kerry says now that he'd stay in Iraq, but the people who support him would get out tomorrow. If he's president, they would pressure him to do that," Koch said. "They don't care what Kerry says now. They believe he is saying things simply to ingratiate himself with mainstream Democrats and some Republicans." Koch has been impressed with Bush's response to the Sept. 11 attacks, and says terrorism must rank as the most important issue for voters in the November elections. He says he supports Bush because "I think the Bush Doctrine of pre-emption is crucial. Bush says 'We will go after the terrorists and the countries that harbor them.' And he has demonstrated that he means it by invading Afghanistan and Iraq, both threats to their regions and to the U.S." The security of Israel is another major issue for Koch, who is proud of his Jewish heritage and says he is frightened by the "prospects of disaster" in the Middle East if Kerry is elected president. Koch says he "cannot understand why Jews who care about Israel would vote Democrat this year." "Look at what Kerry said before the Council on Foreign Relations, where he made his foreign-affairs positions known. He said if he were president, he'd select James Baker and Jimmy Carter as emissaries to Israel. They are two of the most hostile politicians toward Israel! These are the last people you'd send if you cared about the Jewish state and the Middle East. "And when Kerry was accosted by Jewish leaders for saying that, he claimed he hadn't seen that part in his speech, that it was inserted at the last minute by staff people. Now as a politician, I know you read this kind of speech dozens of times. He knew it was in there. So Kerry doesn't tell the truth, either." Many Jews feel Carter and Baker have taken a consistently pro-Palestinian line, and some were worried by Carter's comments at the convention, where he linked the Bush administration's policy toward Israel to anti-American sentiment. "Violence has gripped the Holy Land, with the region increasingly swept by anti-American passions," Carter told the convention in a prime-time speech many Democrats said marked his revival as a central figure in the party. Koch says he found it "both interesting and disturbing" that Kerry omitted any reference to Israel during his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention. "But I am convinced that President Bush will never trade Israel's special relationship with the U.S. for political support, be it domestic or international. Bush is probably the most supportive of Israel of any U.S. president in history. I doubt John Kerry and the Deaniacs who now embrace him would have the same resolve." Koch points to Bush's isolation of Arafat, and his viewing of Israel as a strategic partner in the war on terror as positive foreign-policy elements. Koch says he plans to campaign for Bush among the Jews of New York and South Florida in the coming two months. He says he will write a flurry of op-eds in Jewish newspapers, and has already started hitting the airwaves, talking to several Jewish radio shows, including Israel's Tovia Singer Radio Show, which many American Jews follow online. "You see, I was elected mayor because New Yorkers trusted my insights and common sense," explains Koch. "And I believe they still do. They and the rest of America must realize Islamic terrorists want to destroy us, and there are hundreds of millions of them. I want a president who is willing to go after them before they have the chance to kill us."
Aaron Klein is WorldNetDaily's special Middle East correspondent, whose past interview subjects have included Yasser Arafat, Ehud Barak, Shlomo Ben Ami and leaders of the Taliban. |
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Why Bush Must Be Re-elected Edward I. Koch I support the re-election of President George W. Bush. Why? Because I believe one issue overwhelms all others: the president's strong commitment to fight the forces of international terrorism regardless of the cost or how long it takes to achieve victory. These terrorists are convinced that non-Islamic nations do not have the will and courage to persevere in this ongoing struggle, which could last decades. They believe the democracies are weak-willed and will ultimately yield to whatever demands are made upon them. By withdrawing their troops from Iraq in response to terrorist attacks, Spain and the Philippines have already shown that, tragically, terror tactics, including suicide attacks, car bombings and the beheading of innocent civilians, do work. The terrorists also intend to destroy moderate Muslim governments that want to live in peace with countries that are not Islamic. Shortly after 9/11, President Bush announced his commitment to the struggle against Islamic fanatics, who believe they can destroy the values of Western civilization and democratic governments everywhere. On entering this war against terrorism after 9/11, President Bush said, "We shall go after the terrorists and the countries that harbor them. This Bush Doctrine rivals in importance the Monroe Doctrine, which limited the colonization efforts of foreign powers in the Western Hemisphere, and the Truman Doctrine, which contained the spread of Communism. President Bush has proven that he is prepared to keep to his commitment to fight terrorism. If John Kerry were to win this presidential election, would he stand up to terrorism to the same extent as George Bush has? I don't think so. Regrettably, my party, the Democratic Party, now has a strong radical left wing whose members often dominate the party primaries. Those same left-wing radicals have an anti-Israel philosophy, reviling that democratic state which shares the values held by a majority of Americans. Kerry is a patriotic American who performed heroically in the Vietnam War. Regrettably, he surrendered his philosophical independence to the left wing in the recent primaries in order to prevail over the original darling of the radicals, Howard Dean. Kerry owes his nomination in large part to the supporters of Dean and the support of Senator Ted Kennedy. Kennedy sadly demonstrated his loss of any sense of decency with his crude attacks on President Bush using unacceptable, abusive language. The hatred deliberately stirred by Kennedy directed at President Bush is contemptible and dangerous. It encourages our terrorist enemies with whom we are at war, and it incites the crazies in our own country. On July 9, a Kerry-Edwards fund-raising concert was held at Radio City Music Hall. During that concert Hollywood comedienne Whoopi Goldberg engaged in unprintable, despicable, sexual references to the president and the vice president. She combined the president's family name with allusions to the female anatomy, and she made a sexual reference to Vice President Dick Cheney's first name by referring to the male anatomy. Even worse was Kerry's thank-you from the stage to all of the performers saying that they conveyed "the heart and soul of our country." Shameful. Now a comment about the war in Iraq. Most Americans understand that few, if any, wars go smoothly. Just cast your mind back to the American Revolutionary War, during which New York City was occupied by enemy forces for seven years, or the American Civil War, in which Confederate armies won victory after victory on the battlefield, or even World War II, in which the Nazi menace was defeated at an enormous cost in human lives. Should we have gone to war with Iraq? I believe the answer is yes. During a daily briefing after 9/11, then CIA Director George Tenet told the president that Iraq had the ability to wage chemical and biological war on the U.S. He referred to Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction as a "slam dunk." Had the president not engaged in the pre-emptive war against Saddam, and if this madman had subsequently released in the U.S. biological agents or poison gas, which he had already used against the Kurds and Iran, does anyone doubt that the president would have been impeached? The security agencies of nearly every democratic nation provided to their president or prime minister the same description of Iraq's weapons-of-mass-destruction capability. The U.S. Congress had the same information and concurred with the president's decision. The U.N. Security Council unanimously concurred, passing Resolution 1441. But it was President Bush who had the courage to take up arms in defense of the U.S. and our allies. That is what leadership is all about. A poll released by the Washington Post on July 14, 2004, showed that "55 percent of Americans approve of the way Bush is handling the campaign against terrorism" and "51 percent also said they trust Bush more than Kerry to deal with terrorism, while 42 percent prefer the Democrat." We also should not forget that President Bush, in my opinion, has been the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House. At the U.N. Security Council and in the U.N. General Assembly, allies of the U.S. and others who are indifferent or hostile to our country have conveyed the view that if we end our alliance with Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, they would welcome back the U.S. into their circle. President Bush has refused to abandon our ally Israel. In my opinion, the U.S. presidents who have been Israel's greatest friends are, in order, the current President Bush, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. This November, we Americans in the Jewish community should remember our friends. We should thank President Bush for his courage in the war against terrorism and for his strong and consistent support for Israel and democracy. Edward I. Koch is the former mayor of New York City. His commentary for Bloomberg radio is republished here. You can hear his weekly radio show by going to www.bloomberg.com/radio.
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JOHN KERRY'S "MORE SENSITIVE WAR ON TERROR"  (viewing movie requires Flash Player 7, available HERE) NEW! compleatjohnkerry.blogspot.com NEW! unfitforcommand.blogspot.com johnkerryisdangerousforamerica.blogspot.com |
Former New York City Mayor Edward Koch, a Democrat, will for the first time in his life vote for a Republican presidential candidate this year because he feels Kerry "doesn't have the stomach" to fight terrorism, Koch told WorldNetDaily.