Kerry's response to Sheiffer's last question

[-Cp]

Marrying up does not necessarily mean marrying someone of greater financial holdings.

It would in the case of Kerry, cause both he and his wife are about two of the most homely politicians I've seen so far..

 

[Plato]

Avatar,

You make a strong case but one which I am afraid to say is flawed. After 9/11 there was an outpouring of sympathy and affection from across the globe for the United States. It was a golden opportunity to create the global alliance necessary to defeat terrorism and yet that opportunity was squandered. Sadam Hussain was and is an evil man but there is no proven link with Al Quaeda and the result of Bush's strategy in Iraq is an increase in world terrorism and the deaths of over 1000 brave young Americans. I have to ask what kind of conservative commits troops to a war without an exit strategy. President Bush was told by many within the Pentagon and I suspect in private by Colin Powell that many more troops would be needed in order to deal with the aftermath of the war but that advice was ignored and now Iraq's borders are leaking like a sieve with foreign terrorists entering the country at will. In addition while President Bush has been pre-occupied with Iraq, North Korea has nuclear weapons and even more worryingly, Iran, a real sponsor of terrorism which hates the US even more than Iraq did, is well on the way to developing them. It really grieves me to say it about a Republican president but it requires and will continue to require intelligence to win the war on terrorism and frankly George W Bush and intelligence do not belong in the same sentence.

 

[edwbrown]

Avatar,

You make a strong case but one which I am afraid to say is flawed. After 9/11 there was an outpouring of sympathy and affection from across the globe for the United States. It was a golden opportunity to create the global alliance necessary to defeat terrorism and yet that opportunity was squandered. Sadam Hussain was and is an evil man but there is no proven link with Al Quaeda and the result of Bush's strategy in Iraq is an increase in world terrorism and the deaths of over 1000 brave young Americans. I have to ask what kind of conservative commits troops to a war without an exit strategy. President Bush was told by many within the Pentagon and I suspect in private by Colin Powell that many more troops would be needed in order to deal with the aftermath of the war but that advice was ignored and now Iraq's borders are leaking like a sieve with foreign terrorists entering the country at will. In addition while President Bush has been pre-occupied with Iraq, North Korea has nuclear weapons and even more worryingly, Iran, a real sponsor of terrorism which hates the US even more than Iraq did, is well on the way to developing them. It really grieves me to say it about a Republican president but it requires and will continue to require intelligence to win the war on terrorism and frankly George W Bush and intelligence do not belong in the same sentence.

I would rather see Iraq's borders be flooded with terrorists and we fight them over there than in the U.S.

 

[Avatar4321]

Avatar,

You make a strong case but one which I am afraid to say is flawed. After 9/11 there was an outpouring of sympathy and affection from across the globe for the United States. It was a golden opportunity to create the global alliance necessary to defeat terrorism and yet that opportunity was squandered. Sadam Hussain was and is an evil man but there is no proven link with Al Quaeda and the result of Bush's strategy in Iraq is an increase in world terrorism and the deaths of over 1000 brave young Americans. I have to ask what kind of conservative commits troops to a war without an exit strategy. President Bush was told by many within the Pentagon and I suspect in private by Colin Powell that many more troops would be needed in order to deal with the aftermath of the war but that advice was ignored and now Iraq's borders are leaking like a sieve with foreign terrorists entering the country at will. In addition while President Bush has been pre-occupied with Iraq, North Korea has nuclear weapons and even more worryingly, Iran, a real sponsor of terrorism which hates the US even more than Iraq did, is well on the way to developing them. It really grieves me to say it about a Republican president but it requires and will continue to require intelligence to win the war on terrorism and frankly George W Bush and intelligence do not belong in the same sentence.

I suggest you read the 911 commission. it spells out the Saddam Al Queda connection pretty clearly. I mean you think Saddam offered Osama refuge if they werent on good terms? pu - lease... Besides we are fighting a war on terror. Al Queda is simply one of many terrorist groups. we have clear evidence of Saddam bankrolling terrorism. Since we are going after all nations that support terrorism Saddam has clearly been on the list. Its a strategic place to start. we now have Iran trapped. we have a two side front into Syria as well. When the oil is reaching its production capacity we will have cut our reliance on saudi arabia and could contemplate any pressure we need to put on them. The fact is Iraq was a smart strategic move for action in the War on terror.

As for the golden opportunity to create alliences to defeat terrorism. Hello?!?! we have an alliance of frickin 30 nations helping us. France, Germany and Russia decided not to join us because theyve been violating the sanctions and making money off Saddam's oppressive regime. They cared more about their money then fighting terrorism. I think Russia is starting to understand.

BTW i dont believe for one second youre a Republican. You are echoing the Democrat talking points. Any true conservative understands that our exist strategy is victory. We will leave Iraq when Iraq is a stable Democratic power and they can defend their own freedom. Im tired of all you people yelling about an exit strategy as though we need to run away. Boo frickin hoo. We are going to stay till we are done. All the talk of leaving just strengthens the resolve of the terrorists.

 

[Plato]

Avatar,

Again you make a cogent but flawed argument only spoiled by your questioning my Conservative credentials. Just for the record I have been a member of the British Conservative Party since I was old enough to vote and worked on Margaret Thatcher's winning election campaigns in 1979, 1983 and 1987. I have also been a member of Peace Through NATO and a strong supporter of Ronald Reagan who as you say was a great President, a man with genuine style, wit and courage who with Margaret Thatcher's steadfast support won the Cold War. George W Bush will never be half the man Reagan was.

I became a Conservative because I believe only conservatives make the cool clear-headed rational decisions which benefit us in the long term. I detect no long term thinking with this administration. There is no guarantee that Iraq will remain democratic after the elections. Indeed the likelihood is that any election will result in a Shia dominated Islamic government. That's the majority population in Iraq. Given that, I would remind you that such a government would have strong ethnic and religious ties with Iran, another Shia Islamic state. So much for isolating Iran!

Much of Arab opinion has become radicalised with the result that only by virtue of the fact that Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the Gulf States are not democracies are they able to sustain a policy of supporting the US.

If you want to win the war on terrorism you not only have to destroy the terrorists but you have to deny them new recruits to replace the ones which we will hopefully eliminate. That means dealing with the main grievances which these evil SOBs use to justify their depraved actions and ultimately that means banging heads together in the Israeli - Palestinian conflct. Bush has completely taken his eye off the ball in that one.

As a conservative I have always believed that conservatives can debate intelligently and sensibly, Avatar. Questioning somebody's credentials because they disagree with you sounds like the sort of thing liberals are fond of doing.