Kerry Says 'False Pride' Holding Bush Back in Iraq
July 21, 2003 - From Reuters
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential contender John Kerry urged the Bush administration on Monday to seek U.N. support in stabilizing Iraq and questioned if "false pride" was delaying the move.
Kerry, a Massachusetts senator who is one of nine Democrats vying to challenge President Bush in 2004, told reporters the help of other nations was crucial in helping stabilize post-war Iraq.
He said "my blood boiled over" when he read in the New York Times on Saturday that some in the Bush administration might consider it humiliating to go to the United Nations for help after bypassing the world body before going to war in Iraq.
"You don't make a decision about protecting your own troops and winning your objectives based on false pride," he said in a conference call with reporters.
Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, said half of the names of the dead enshrined on the Vietnam war memorial in Washington stem "from the time that that kind of pride began to cloud the decisions in Vietnam."
The Bush administration has reacted coolly to suggestions that a new U.N. resolution could make it easier for nations to help Washington stabilize Iraq through troops or other means, saying existing resolutions give the U.N. cover to any country that wants to join the effort in Iraq.
Russia and other countries have suggested a new U.N. resolution might make countries more disposed to help.
Kerry said international help was crucial with American deaths continuing and the costs of policing the country mounting.
"Lives are at stake," he said. "We need to internationalize this and we need to do it now, we need to do it openly and we need to do it in order to defuse the sense of occupation and protect the troops."
Kerry, who supported a resolution giving Bush the authority to wage war in Iraq, has been critical of the administration's failure to gain wider international backing for the war effort.
John Kerry is strong on Foriegn Policy. We need his leadship in the White House. No other candidate has what it takes to beat Bush and turn our country around.
July 21, 2003 - From Reuters
WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential contender John Kerry urged the Bush administration on Monday to seek U.N. support in stabilizing Iraq and questioned if "false pride" was delaying the move.
Kerry, a Massachusetts senator who is one of nine Democrats vying to challenge President Bush in 2004, told reporters the help of other nations was crucial in helping stabilize post-war Iraq.
He said "my blood boiled over" when he read in the New York Times on Saturday that some in the Bush administration might consider it humiliating to go to the United Nations for help after bypassing the world body before going to war in Iraq.
"You don't make a decision about protecting your own troops and winning your objectives based on false pride," he said in a conference call with reporters.
Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, said half of the names of the dead enshrined on the Vietnam war memorial in Washington stem "from the time that that kind of pride began to cloud the decisions in Vietnam."
The Bush administration has reacted coolly to suggestions that a new U.N. resolution could make it easier for nations to help Washington stabilize Iraq through troops or other means, saying existing resolutions give the U.N. cover to any country that wants to join the effort in Iraq.
Russia and other countries have suggested a new U.N. resolution might make countries more disposed to help.
Kerry said international help was crucial with American deaths continuing and the costs of policing the country mounting.
"Lives are at stake," he said. "We need to internationalize this and we need to do it now, we need to do it openly and we need to do it in order to defuse the sense of occupation and protect the troops."
Kerry, who supported a resolution giving Bush the authority to wage war in Iraq, has been critical of the administration's failure to gain wider international backing for the war effort.
John Kerry is strong on Foriegn Policy. We need his leadship in the White House. No other candidate has what it takes to beat Bush and turn our country around.
posted by Pamela J. Leavey at 9:36 PM
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