John Kerry said what?
JOHN KERRY: I don't agree with that. But I think what we need to do is recognize what we all agree on, which is, you've got to begin to set benchmarks for accomplishment; you've got to begin to transfer authority to the Iraqis, and there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the -- of -- of -- of -- historical customs, religious customs, whether you like it or not. Iraqis should be doing that. And after all of these two and a half years, with all --
NYM PSEDUO: Are you fucking kidding me Mr. Kerry? Did you not use this page from your playbook after Vietnam when you cited all these incidents that you were never involved in. Now we are the terrorists. We will truly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory if Dean, Kerry, or Pelosi actually win something.
I think i have come to the conclusion that the Democrats are much more intelligent than anyone else. They are making me hate everyone in the party so much that Hillary seems ok. What a fucking ploy.....
posted by Nym Pseudo @ 12:44 AM
8 Comments
8 Comments:
Hopefully your hate does not extend to your fellow Democrat bloggers.
Kerry continues to be the compromise candidate he was during the last election. Far enough to the left to get selected by us Democrats in the primaries, just to the right of Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton, but simply not right enough to carry the nation.
I will give him an A for consistency, though. He hated the military in Vietnam, and he continues to hate it now. In my view, this derives from a deeper recognition in his part that our country is a force for evil, rather than a force for good, in the world. And yes, I realize that he is nuanced, recognizing both sides of it - he simply does not recognize enough of the overwhelming good.
Hard to say anything without the context of the original question. I think our military can be heavy-handed sometimes with people that want to support us, but can't when we go in someplace and piss everyone off.
the original context had to do with bush's speech last week and whether Kerry agreed with the plan.
Simple question...he chose his answer, stupidly. To use the word terrorize with our troops is not borderline offensive. It is offensive.
Let's be honest about this rather than examining only one piece of the statement. There is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Kerry choice of words was politically motivated in the latter part of that statement regardelss of the context of the question. Equating our troops to terrorists is way out of line and counterproductive. However, there is also a valid point in there as well regarding the setting of benchmarks. We are not talking about a timeline to withdraw, but establishing a clear set of quantifiable objectives leading to a democratic Iraq. I don't think this should be too much to ask of our elected officials.
On the surface, it may seem that establishing the hard and fast benchmarks for withdrawal may be a good approach. However, let us not forget that the interpretation of the benchmarks that accomplish the objectives is still subjective.
As an example of the most commonly cited objective, does anyone know of a consensus number of trained Iraqui security forces? And, without that consensus, when is the benchmark reached?
So, in principle, I agree. But it is much more difficult in practice given the disparate political objectives in DC.
When did the use of the word "terrorize" equate the subject in the sentence to "terrorists"?
Man, you guys are really parsing words here. I feel pretty confident that Kerry was neither directly nor indirectly saying that our troops are terrorists.
i think he was and if it was his first time, I give him a pass. Unfortunately about 30 years ago he did the same thing.
I've never really read his exact quotes from 30 years ago, but most accounts of problems or atrocities that I have heard about in VN were mostly the result of poor leadership rather than psychopathic troops.
What he may be saying is that we are putting some of our troops in Iraq in an impossible situation, and forcing them to do things that terrorize the Iraqi people. I really, really doubt that Kerry thinks the soldier on the ground is like a terrorist.
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