Dean, Kerry Exchange Insults Over Iraq

By HOLLY RAMER, Associated Press Writer

CONCORD, N.H. - Democrat Howard Dean and John Kerry traded insults Monday over the war in Iraq, with Kerry faulting his presidential rival for a lack of policy and Dean complaining that "we wouldn't be there if it weren't for Democrats like Senator Kerry."

Read the entire article, then read my commentary:

This argument just never gets old for the Doctor and his followers. Why are they so averse to placing the blame where it clearly belongs? The Bush administration told the American people that our national security was under imminent threat, and warned of consequences if immediate action was not taken.

John Kerry needs to make no apologies for his vote. He voted to protect our national security based on intelligence that he received; as a United States Senator, that is what he was called upon to do. He is also correct in being highly critical of a President who did not do almost anything he was called upon to do leading up to the Iraqi invasion. The President mislead the American people, failed to build a coalition, did not let inspectors run their course, and – perhaps, worst of all, did not seem to have a plan beyond the first two weeks of the invasion.

We must place the blame for this quagmire where it belongs: the Bush administration for their manipulation, not John Kerry’s vote. If we fail to do that, George W. Bush will have four more years to continue the destruction of our democracy.