Thursday, September 30, 2004 :::
 
Were I on the dais tonight, this what I would ask.

1. Senator Kerry, under the Constitution, the US Congress is charged with declaring war, setting the rules for conduct during the war, and approving all money spent on it. Yet you have missed a majority of Senate Foreign Relations Committee meetings on the war in Iraq. If you do not take your constitutional responsibilities seriously now, what assurance can the American people have that you would take them seriously as Commander in Chief?

2. Sen. Kerry, you have said for years that you spent Christmas, 1968, in Cambodia, during President Nixon's military action in that country. If you are so smart and informed, how come other people had to tell you that Richard Nixon was not President in 1968?

3. Mr.. President, in making the case of war against Saddam Hussein, you and officials of your Administration spoke almost exclusively of the “nexus” between countries that could produce Weapons of Mass Destruction and the network of terrorist organizations. Everything in your war policy—the new alliances, the role of the UN, the doctrine of preemption—depended on your assurance that Saddam had WMD.


He did not. The Weapons of Mass Destruction were not there. No one has successfully challenged the credibility of Dr. David Kay, and no one in your Administration has denied that he did a very good job in looking for them. They are most likely not in the ground, nor are they in Syria. Your reaction was silence. We have heard virtually nothing from you on why we are there, simply that we are going to stay the course. Over 1000 Americans have died, and many more have been permanently injured. Foreign leaders who supported you have been humiliated. Will you now state clearly the reasons for our being in Iraq, and will you address clearly the whole issue of the missing WMD?

4. You say now that you will listen to commanders who ask for more troops or support. Yet before the war started two Administration officials who publicly stated, accurately, that the war would be very costly were fired and publicly humiliated. Every single report, including the blue ribbon panel on Abu Ghraib, has painted a picture of a chain of command in which communication back up to the top had broken down, and the impression seems to be that it was not even tolerated. Your own military commanders took to making statements through the press about the need for more troops, yet Secretary Rumsfeld claims that no one ever asked him.

You yourself have not even been in contact with members of Congress. When Senators of your own party demanded a meeting, you went to them, gave a speech, and left without taking questions.

Now you say you are willing to listen. Will you have regular meetings with members of Congress, and will you set in place institutional procedures that guarantee that people under your authority can communicate with you and other Administration leaders?


::: posted by A Mind That Suits at 9:56 AM


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