John Kerry calls for more troops in Afghanistan
musicismylife78
Posts: 6,116
Here is some news about kerry. And I ask, what is the difference between a prowar Bush/republican party and the sort of, kind of antiwar kerry. Demanding withdrawal by next July isnt radical at all, and is wimpy. And his call for troops to afghanistan offsets any other antiwar leanings he might have. How can he expect to get the antiwar vote if he wants more troops?
Kerry Seeks More U.S. Troops for Afghanistan
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 10, 2006; Page A09
Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) yesterday urged the deployment of more U.S. troops to combat the growing Taliban threat in Afghanistan while accusing the administration of trying to salvage its congressional majorities by playing on public fears of future terrorist attacks rather than fixing what he said is a disastrous policy in Iraq.
As the nation prepares to mark the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Kerry offered a pointed rejoinder to President Bush's recent rhetorical offensive on terrorism. He said Bush's policies have turned Iraq into a terrorist breeding ground, unleashed dangerous forces elsewhere in the Middle East and diverted resources from the battle against terrorism at home and in Afghanistan.
"We have a Katrina foreign policy, a succession of blunders and failures that have betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it," Kerry said in a speech at Boston's historic Faneuil Hall.
A copy of the prepared text was distributed by Kerry's office.
The 2004 Democratic presidential nominee also accused Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who recently spoke of "moral confusion" in the debate about how best to fight the radical Islamic terrorist threat, of smearing those who dissent from the administration's policies by suggesting they are similar to Nazi appeasers in the 1930s.
"It is immoral for old men to send young Americans to fight and die in a conflict without a strategy that can work," he said. "It is immoral to lie about progress in that war to get through a news cycle or an election. It is immoral to treat 9/11 as a political pawn."
Speaking a day after a suicide bomber killed 16 people, including two U.S. soldiers, in Afghanistan, Kerry accused the administration of pursuing "a policy of cut-and-run" in that country and said the Pentagon should deploy at least 5,000 more troops to help suppress the Taliban insurgency. He said allied forces there need more helicopters, drones, heavy equipment and reconstruction funds to help prop up the government in Kabul.
Kerry restated his call for the withdrawal of most U.S. forces from Iraq by next July, a recommendation that most of his fellow Democratic senators have already rejected. He also urged new policies to free the United States from its dependence on Middle East oil, which he described as the "great treasury of jihadist terrorism."
"There is simply no way to overstate how Iraq has subverted our efforts to free the world from global terror," Kerry said, according to the prepared text. "It has overstretched our military. It has served as an essential recruitment tool for terrorists. It has divided and pushed away our traditional allies. It has diverted critical billions of dollars from the real front lines against terrorism and from homeland security."
Kerry, in a rhetorical twist that invoked one of the worst moments of his 2004 campaign, also took note of Bush's speech this week about the treatment of terrorist suspects who have been held at secret CIA prisons abroad. "Let me say it plainly," he said. "No American president should be for torture before he's against it."
A Republican National Committee spokeswoman, Tara Wall, called Kerry's criticism ill-timed on the eve of the commemoration of the Sept. 11 attacks and charged that Kerry's blueprint would embolden terrorists and diminish domestic efforts to prevent future attacks.
Kerry Seeks More U.S. Troops for Afghanistan
By Dan Balz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 10, 2006; Page A09
Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) yesterday urged the deployment of more U.S. troops to combat the growing Taliban threat in Afghanistan while accusing the administration of trying to salvage its congressional majorities by playing on public fears of future terrorist attacks rather than fixing what he said is a disastrous policy in Iraq.
As the nation prepares to mark the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Kerry offered a pointed rejoinder to President Bush's recent rhetorical offensive on terrorism. He said Bush's policies have turned Iraq into a terrorist breeding ground, unleashed dangerous forces elsewhere in the Middle East and diverted resources from the battle against terrorism at home and in Afghanistan.
"We have a Katrina foreign policy, a succession of blunders and failures that have betrayed our ideals, killed and maimed our soldiers, and widened the terrorist threat instead of defeating it," Kerry said in a speech at Boston's historic Faneuil Hall.
A copy of the prepared text was distributed by Kerry's office.
The 2004 Democratic presidential nominee also accused Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who recently spoke of "moral confusion" in the debate about how best to fight the radical Islamic terrorist threat, of smearing those who dissent from the administration's policies by suggesting they are similar to Nazi appeasers in the 1930s.
"It is immoral for old men to send young Americans to fight and die in a conflict without a strategy that can work," he said. "It is immoral to lie about progress in that war to get through a news cycle or an election. It is immoral to treat 9/11 as a political pawn."
Speaking a day after a suicide bomber killed 16 people, including two U.S. soldiers, in Afghanistan, Kerry accused the administration of pursuing "a policy of cut-and-run" in that country and said the Pentagon should deploy at least 5,000 more troops to help suppress the Taliban insurgency. He said allied forces there need more helicopters, drones, heavy equipment and reconstruction funds to help prop up the government in Kabul.
Kerry restated his call for the withdrawal of most U.S. forces from Iraq by next July, a recommendation that most of his fellow Democratic senators have already rejected. He also urged new policies to free the United States from its dependence on Middle East oil, which he described as the "great treasury of jihadist terrorism."
"There is simply no way to overstate how Iraq has subverted our efforts to free the world from global terror," Kerry said, according to the prepared text. "It has overstretched our military. It has served as an essential recruitment tool for terrorists. It has divided and pushed away our traditional allies. It has diverted critical billions of dollars from the real front lines against terrorism and from homeland security."
Kerry, in a rhetorical twist that invoked one of the worst moments of his 2004 campaign, also took note of Bush's speech this week about the treatment of terrorist suspects who have been held at secret CIA prisons abroad. "Let me say it plainly," he said. "No American president should be for torture before he's against it."
A Republican National Committee spokeswoman, Tara Wall, called Kerry's criticism ill-timed on the eve of the commemoration of the Sept. 11 attacks and charged that Kerry's blueprint would embolden terrorists and diminish domestic efforts to prevent future attacks.
0