Kerry's Iraq Plan: Pull Out Soon or . . . Pull Out Soon

Hardball/NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

by Mark Finkelstein

April 6, 2006

The graphic claims 'Kerry Plays Hardball', but it was all slow-pitch softball today for the junior senator from Massachusetts. After feeding Kerry a number of leading questions letting him tee off on the way Pres. Bush allegedly misled the country into war, talk turned to exit strategies.

Matthews: "Senator, you have a plan, pretty hard, about how we can deal with getting out of Iraq."

Kerry: "Well, it's time to get tough, Chris."

Now there's a courageous politician for you - one willing to admit he's tough.

Kerry continued, repeating a stock formulation he's been using this week: "The policy is broken. When you go down to the Vietnam War Memorial, you take a look at it, you see that almost half the names that are on that wall were added after our leaders knew that the policy wasn't working. That's immoral, and I believe it's immoral today for us to pursue a policy where our kids are dying, losing their limbs, going to Walter Reed . . . because Iraqi politicians won't compromise."

His plan? "You need to have a conference, bringing together all of the parties in the region and we must leverage a change here, and we've got to put it to them hard."

Hmm, not only is Kerry tough, he's hard - impressive!

"Either you get a government by May 15th, or we're withdrawing our troops."

OK, that sounds pretty tough and hard. Quite the stick. So what's the carrot, Senator?

"And when you get a government, we're withdrawing our troops at the end of the year."

Wait a sec. So the plan is that if the Iraqis don't cooperate, we're withdrawing, but if they do cooperate . . . we're withdrawing? And the difference between you and John Murtha, Senator?

You might have thought that Matthews would have called Kerry on his heads-I-win-tails-you-lose plan. But his follow-up was one more softball: "Do you believe that the Iraqis will respond to that kind of ultimatum?"

In answering, Kerry indulged in what, had a Republican said it, might have brought down MSM condemnation of ethnic or religious stereotyping: "They only understand deadlines."

Matthews wasn't in the least offended. To the contrary, he suggested that President Bush was making a mistake by not following Kerry's strategy. "The president's policy has been in another direction. The president has said other presidents beyond me will have to deal with the number of troops we still have in that country. Is he sending them the opposite signal, we're going to be here, we're going to have permanent bases here, you don't have to worry?"

Kerry was only too happy to agree.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Hardball/NewsBusters ping to the Today show list.

[Doogle]

Kerry who?

[pcottraux]

Kerry's Iraq Plan: Pull Out Soon or . . . Pull Out Soon

At least he's being consistent for a change.

[Andy from Beaverton]

The democrats plan is always to pull out soon. But the Democrats always forget and that's why the abortion rate is so high.

[starfish923]

I find it almost unbelievable that Kerry might run again in '08. I assume that's why anyone even asks him about Iraq.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought that he was seriously thinking about running again.
I hope he does. That would equal a shoe-in for the GOP.

[pabianice]

[LibWhacker]

I hope the 'Rats nominate him again in '08.

[Reaganesque]

His plan is to pull all the troops out and then declare the war a failure and hold George W. Bush and the Republicans responsible for failing to win. This has nothing to do with the safety and well being of the troops and "innocent Iraqis." This has everything to do with winning the political battle between Republicans and Democrats. And, in Sen. Kerrye's view and the view of the Democrats, if that means damaging our troops and the security of this nation, then it is a small price to pay. What's important here is that Democrats be in power. Nothing else matters and I do mean nothing.

[sgtbono2002]

Where is the F-180 John boy?

POS. he maks the bile come up to my throat, and I ant to puke when he speaks. Cowardly POS wants to be President.

WOULD BE President if not for the Swift Boat Veterans and the Truth about his military service.

Anyone who voted in Mass. for this hunk of dung needs to be keelhauled.

[jazusamo]

Sounds like it was a real Johnny and Chrissy love fest.

[cardinal4]

Well, there is an empty bra lying around somewhere, as there are two boobs on Hardball..

[Names Ash Housewares]

"WOULD BE President if not for the Swift Boat Veterans and the Truth about his military service. "

Best money I ever spent. Those heroes put themselves between us and John Effin.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

This is what we get when the
Wrong Way Whino's (RINO's)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1607789/posts?page=475#475
get "their" way!

[Williams]

Getting Vietnam history from John Kerry is like getting WWII history from a nazi. More than half the casualties occurred after our leaders realized the policy wasn't working??

There was a succesful withdrawal of US troops and a succesful treaty signed ending the war. AFTER Nixon resigned, the N Viets attacked and scum in the Congress of Kerry's ilk cut off all aid to our ally. They allowed our allies to be killed, imprisoned, with many thousands fleeing in boats.

So now the plan is turn Iraq over to the terrorists? To Senator Kerry: It was YOUR policy in Vietnam that led to total failure.

[sgtbono2002]

Truly America's heroes.

And yet this sorry piece of jizz is stil around and will probably be re-elected. What does it take to get rid of the trash in Mass.? Build a leaky tunnel thru Boston and you will be elected till the day you die.

[StarCMC]

Hmm, not only is Kerry tough, he's hard - impressive!

At the risk of being crass, I doubt it.

[cardinal4]

Yeah, this guy is credible...

[neodad]

Senator, you have a plan, pretty hard, about how we can deal with getting out of Iraq

And you don't even have to go to his website this time.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

VVAW supported demonstration, Washington Spring Offensive, April - May 1971

Kerry was a supporter of the "People's Peace Treaty," a supposed "people's" declaration to end the war, reportedly drawn up in communist East Germany.

It included nine points, all of which were taken from Viet Cong peace proposals at the Paris peace talks as conditions for ending the war.

One of the provisions stated: "The Vietnamese pledge that as soon as the U.S. government publicly sets a date for total withdrawal [from Vietnam], they will enter discussion to secure the release of all American prisoners, including pilots captured while bombing North Vietnam."

In other words, Kerry and his VVAW advocated the communist line to withdraw all U.S. troops from Vietnam first and then negotiate with Hanoi over the release of prisoners. Had the nine points of the "People's Peace Treaty" favored by Kerry been accepted by American negotiators, the United States would have totally lost all leverage to get the communists to release any POWs captured during the war years.



Vice President Spiro T. Agnew said that Kerry, "who drew rave notices in the media for his eloquent testimony before Congress," was using material ghosted for him by a former Kennedy speech writer (Adam Walinsky).

Picture #2, VVAW supported demonstration during the Washington Spring Offensive, April - May 1971.

Notice the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong flags.