A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics
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A Weblog of Centrist Voices in American Politics | |
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May 27, 2004Kerry's National Security SpeechThe text of Kerry's speech in Seattle is here. I will have to read it again before I form a strong opinion, but the center of the speech is clearly that we need to form international coalitions... Duhh!!! Kerry doesn't tell us directly how is he going to do this, and I think he is relying on the fact that people will believe that his mere presence in office, as opposed to George Bush, will be enough to rally the world around us. I am by far not convinced of this fact... I think France and Germany's opposition to the war had nothing to do with their relationship with the United States, or their opinion of Bush for that matter, and everything to do with their economic interest in keeping Saddam around. Self interest is what our relationship with the world depends on, not who our President is. He also said that Bush did not exhaust his diplomatic options before going to Iraq, which I think is a joke. We did nothing in this country for ten years but exhaust our diplomatic options with Iraq. What is really a kick in the pants is that Kerry makes this statement, and then in the same breath he says we need to build international coalitions like we did in Kosovo, a country that not only didn't we have UN approval to invade, but President Clinton didn't even ask for it. What I find very interesting is that Kerry almost argues in some cases that Bush has not been hawkish enough in the war on terrorism, especially in regards to Saudi Arabia, which is a statement I would agree with. About Iraq, Kerry encourages the President to act on his statements the other night in regards to the UN and NATO... I agree again. Finally, Kerry discusses his plan to decrease American dependence on foreign oil, but like I said in my earlier post, I don't think he makes a valid argument on this one. How do you decrease American independence on foreign oil and then argue that we need to reduce gas prices by convincing the owners of that oil to produce more of it? Which is it Senator, are we going to rely on foreign oil or not? All in all I am not impressed. I think the message is still: I will do what George W. Bush is doing, but things will be better because I am not George W. Bush... Not exactly what I would call a winning message. UPDATE: The Bush campaign has posted a timeline of Kerry contradictions on Iraq. Unlike the "I am not George W. Bush" message for Bush, I think this will stick with Kerry throughout the campaign. He has but for a few short weeks in Iowa not been consistent or been able to articulate a coherent message since he announced he was going to run for President, or for his entire Senatorial career for that matter. Posted by Mathew at May 27, 2004 04:22 PMComments
Mathew, Thanks for the posting. The speech was interesting, and for the most part, I agree that he's basically parroting the Bush plan, except with more International support. He also emphasized that we need to find alternatives to Middle East oil, which he called for within 10 years. At times he sounded positively Rumsfeldian when talking about modernizing our military. His four point plan: First, we must launch and lead a new era of alliances for the post 9-11 world. Second, we must modernize the world’s most powerful military to meet the new threats. Third, in addition to our military might, we must deploy all that is in America’s arsenal -- our diplomacy, our intelligence system, our economic power, and the appeal of our values and ideas. Fourth and finally, to secure our full independence and freedom, we must free America from its dangerous dependence on Mideast oil. I was gratified to hear him re-iterate his support for creating a stable Iraq when he said this: Failure there would be a terrible setback. It would be a boon to our enemies, and jeopardize the long-term prospects for a peaceful, democratic Middle East – leaving us at war not just with a small, radical minority, but with increasingly large portions of the entire Muslim world. All in all, I don't think it was a bad speech. He didn't really differentiate himself from Bush, but perhaps the theory for national security is to be Bush, but more polite. Posted by: Will at May 27, 2004 06:53 PMSay what? Kerry is echoing President Bush's strategy on Iraq? No, my droogies. I think it is the other way around. That is Bush's MO -- Embrace Democratic Party ideas and/or legislation and shop them as his own when his own policies have become politically untenable. Think about it. Posted by: Brian at May 27, 2004 10:05 PMI think France and Germany's opposition to the war had nothing to do with their relationship with the United States, or their opinion of Bush for that matter, and everything to do with their economic interest in keeping Saddam around. Blaming their entire reluctance to invade Iraq on their economic ties to Saddam Hussein is ridiculous. First, the war was highly unpopular among French and German people. That affects the politicians. These are democracies, remember? Second, French and German leaders appear to have honestly thought invading Iraq was a dumb idea. Is that really so hard to believe? Next, Kerry does not propose to turn our foreign policy over the U.N., so stop pretending that's what he wants to do. The fact that the action in Kosovo was not approved by the U.N. does not contradict his call to strengthen alliances. The first George Bush put together one of the greatest alliances in world history when he fought Saddam. I wasn't a big fan of GB at the time, but looking back I consider him one of the most under-appreciated presidents we've ever had. GWB could have put together an even greater alliance against Al Qaeda and terrorism with half the effort, but instead he invaded Iraq. So it's easy to believe that Kerry could do a better job than Bush on working with allies. |
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