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Commentary :: Elections & Legislation

Message To Kerry: Time To Protest War Again

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, is doing better in the polls and has a slight edge over President George W. Bush.
But one step he should take to dramatically frame his candidacy would be to make a total break with Bush's failing policy in Iraq.

Kerry, who first came to the national political scene with his anti-Vietnam war mission in the 1970s, should concede he made a big mistake in supporting the invasion of Iraq and blame it on Bush for giving him false information about Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction.

Kerry has a great opportunity coming up to make that break -- on June 30 when a U.N.-created caretaker Iraqi government takes over sovereignty of its country.

That would be the time for Kerry to acknowledge the truth that Congress and he -- and the entire nation -- were misled by the administration's claims that Saddam has both weapons of mass destruction and ties to the al-Qaida terrorists. The facts show that these claims were false.

The only question is whether the CIA made a good-faith mistake on those points -- or whether high Bush administration officials pressured the CIA to fabricate those findings and thus provide an excuse for Bush to order an attack on Iraq.

Kerry should declare that if he were elected president, he would set a timetable for gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, with the pullout complete by January when Iraqi elections are to be held.

Such a bold move by Kerry would show courage and it would blunt any political appeal that Ralph Nader's tough anti-war rhetoric may attract.

How long does Kerry want to subject American troops to a no-win war in Iraq?

While there is no way to "win" this war, we can salvage some honor by leaving gracefully.

There is growing evidence that the American people are getting fed up with the administration's shifting rationale for keeping U.S. troops in the hostile nation.

The world won't soon forget the disgrace of the Iraqi prisoner abuse and the shameful detentions of many innocent Iraqis.

The tragedy of a war of "choice" resulting in hundreds of Americans and thousands of Iraqis dead surely has dawned on Kerry. Public support for this war is becoming fainter, with even some hawks eager to find a way out.

Kerry's Vietnam experience should serve as a model for him.

Along with most of his Senate colleagues, Kerry supported the congressional resolution that gave Bush a green light for his ill-advised and unprovoked war. Few lawmakers asked questions at the time.

That resolution is along the same lines as the 1964 Gulf of Tonkin resolution that gave President Lyndon B. Johnson the green light to go into the Vietnam debacle.

In both cases -- Iraq and Vietnam -- the president was permitted to do what is "necessary" to protect the United States.

Kerry came home from Vietnam as a Navy officer with three Purple Hearts, a Bronze Star and a Silver Star for combat.

Disillusioned with the war, he organized the Vietnam Veterans against the War and testified in 1971 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee against further U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia.

That's when he said famously, "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam?"

Some 30-plus years later, he has become establishment, cautious and self-protective, in contrast to his forthright youth.

During the primary season, some anti-war Democrats taunted Kerry and accused him of giving Bush a blank check to wage war. Indeed, Kerry's foreign policy is hardly distinguishable from Bush.

After 18 comfortable years in the Senate, Kerry has lost the persona that had set him apart back in the Vietnam era.

On the Middle East, Kerry is simply a "me too" echo of Bush when it comes to endorsing Israel's illegal land grab on the Palestinian-occupied West Bank.

Kerry also has yet to make a strong clear difference with Bush on domestic issues.

The presidential election should be a referendum on Bush's unpopular decision to take this country into a costly and unnecessary war that has lost us respect around the world.

It's time for Kerry to split with the administration on this ill-conceived war. Otherwise, disaffected voters may decide to sit this one out.
 
 

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