From the transcript of Senator John Kerry’s speech:
"I will never hesitate to use force when it is required. Any attack will be met with a swift and certain response."
As Charles Johnson has pointed out, Kerry seems to be admitting here that another attack will be required for him to use military force. Underscoring that notion, Kerry declared that he would not send troops to war unless the threat was “real and imminent.” Instead of striking an enemy to prevent the growth of an imminent threat (one of Bush’s justifications for the Iraq war), Kerry is willing to wait for an enemy to mount an attack.
Kerry then says:
"I will never give any nation or international institution a veto over our national security."
He has claimed this before but rendered it meaningless by also claiming that he would “treat the United Nations as a full partner ... in the war on terror." In his convention speech, he didn’t go this far, but he stressed the ”need to rebuild our alliances.”
Apparently Kerry wanted to give the impression that he could be a strong commander-in-chief, but his consistent criticism of unilateralism and wars of “choice” indicate otherwise.
Posted by Forkum at July 30, 2004 02:50 AM
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