IPW Daily Report – Thursday, March 18, 2004
“At least this much is clear: Had the decision
belonged to Senator Kerry, Saddam Hussein would
still be in power today in Iraq,"
Vice President
Cheney said. "In fact, Saddam Hussein would
almost certainly still be in Kuwait."
"He [President Bush] saw America through tragedy.
He has kept the nation's enemies in desperate
flight, and under his leadership, our country has
once again led the armies of liberation,"
Cheney said.
"We are still bogged down in Iraq - and the
Administration stubbornly holds to failed policies
that drive potential allies away. What we have
seen is a steady loss of lives and mounting costs
in dollars, with no end in sight,"
said John Kerry.
"He's [John Kerry] responsible for his voting
record, as we all are responsible for our records,
and he'll have to explain it,"
Sen. John McCain
said of Kerry on "Today" on NBC. "But, no,
I do not believe that he is necessarily weak on
defense. I don't agree with him on some issues,
clearly. But I decry this negativism that's going
on on both sides. The American people don't need
it, and the end result will be lower voter
turnout, particularly amongst younger Americans."
RightMarch.com urges protesters to interrupt
A.N.S.E.A.R. and MoveOn.org’s upcoming protests
against occupying Iraq with the following slogans,
"Except for Ending Slavery, Fascism, Nazism &
Communism... War Has Never Solved Anything;"
"Communism Has Only Killed 100 Million
People...Let's Give It Another Chance!"; and
"Socialist Action Network...working to perfect the
ultimate police state"
John Kerry’s fatal
conceit
analysis
by Roger Wm. Hughes
Fridrich A. Hayek wrote a book titled “The
Fatal Conceit” that is multi-layered in its
many messages and lessons. However, the book
reduces the flaws of socialism to one major fatal
conceit that an individual or a group of
individuals can know everything. This, of course,
is necessary for social planning and therefore for
socialism to be successful.
Senator John Kerry’s fatal conceit is that he
believes his service in Vietnam equates to our
blind trust in his ability to protect America.
Howard Dean on NBC’s Meet the Press stated
the Presidential election will be about jobs,
"after all either I or Kerry would protect America
and fight the War on Terrorism."
This conceit leads them to believe that because
there is a War on Terrorism, America will trust
just anyone to handle it.
Coinciding with Kerry’s conceit that his service
in Vietnam equates to blind trust in his ability
to protect America is the other false premise --
that Iraq is the wrong war at the wrong time and
the wrong place and we are failing.
In short, Kerry’s argument is, “lets get on with
the issues of jobs, healthcare and education.”
After all, Kerry’s fatal conceit concludes, he can
fight the War on Terrorism as well as Bush -- if
not better.
CAN HE?
For a moment, let us forego Kerry’s past record of
voting to decimate our national defense and C.I.A.
Let us instead examine the key component of the
Democrats’ proposal to fix the Bush problem by
"Internationalizing the War."
Kerry has referenced our current coalition
partners as the “bribed and coerced.” However, the
two key players Kerry is really saying are lacking
from our coalition are France and Germany.
Robert
Kagan
writes in “Of paradise and
power:
America and Europe in the new world order”
that France and Germany have an alliance and a
desire to "limit’ America’s power. Kagan also
writes that the conflict in Iraq was greater than
France, Germany and Russia’s financial interest in
continuing to make money from the Saddam Hussein
regime. It was also about the fact that America
has provided an unparalleled level of security to
"Old Europe" – so much so that they have come to
believe we can all just ‘sit down and talk it
out.’ In short, they do not subscribe to
Bismarck’s "real politics." … that is, if people
are shooting at you, you should do something about
it.
The other thing that is enormously disturbing
about Kerry’s position is that it is reminiscent
of the two erroneous foreign policy assumptions of
the Clinton administration. One was that the long
history of geopolitical conflict had come to an
end. The second was that international politics
would center around globalization and
environmental issues, déjà vu.
Will America buy into this viewpoint on how
America should defend itself?
Polls indicate the answer is no. This, despite
Kerry’s attempts to show that he would be a better
defender of America by attacking Bush for not
taking care of veterans and cutting their benefits
-- something that is not altogether true.
The truth is, Bush’s taking on Saddam Hussein has
made America safer and stronger. It enforced
several U.N. resolutions that weren’t being
enforced -- one of the real reasons for going into
Iraq. It has changed the dynamics of power in the
region and is achieving results from Libya, Yemen,
Iran and Syria. Democracy in Iraq will be
devastating to our enemies. The Democrats’
position that Israel and Palestine must be solved
first has been proven to be equally wrong, but our
success in Iraq will also help gain progress with
the Israel/ Palestine problem.
So, the question is: why would America elect
someone who has voted against funding for 24
critical weapon systems, wants to give greater
influence to France and Germany whose goal is to
curtail our power, voted to cut funding for the
C.I.A., thinks we should have waited for the
United Nations and criticizes our current
coalition members and allies as being coerced or
bribed?
VP Cheney rips Kerry’s voting record
Vice President Dick Cheney went to the Reagan
Presidential Library and showed some of the
substantive difference between Bush and Kerry.
None were starker than the differences on which
nations are our friends and how should they be
treated.
Cheney criticized Kerry for referring to our
coalition partners as a coalition of the coerced
and the bribed, "Many questions come to mind, but
the first is this: How would Senator Kerry
describe Great Britain -- coerced or bribed?"
"If such dismissive terms are the vernacular of
the golden age of diplomacy Senator Kerry
promises, we are left to wonder which nations
would care to join any future coalition," he said.
"He speaks as if only those who openly oppose
America's objectives have a chance of earning his
respect."
Cheney also lampooned Kerry over his defense that
the latest Bush ad was inaccurate because he said,
"I actually did vote for the $87 billion, before I
voted against it."
Cheney said, "Whatever the explanation, whatever
nuances he might fault us for neglecting, it is
not an impressive record for someone who aspires
to become commander in chief in this time of
testing for our country."
Kerry’s Foreign Policy Speech
Sen. John Kerry delivered this prepared speech
at George Washington University while Vice
President Cheney criticized Kerry as unstable and
unfit to serve as America’s Commander and Chief:
One year ago this week, American soldiers raced
across the desert to Baghdad. Ten months ago,
George Bush stood on an aircraft carrier and
proclaimed "mission accomplished."
But today we know that the mission is not
finished, hostilities have not ended, and our men
and women in uniform fight on almost alone with
the target squarely on their backs. Everyday, they
face danger and death from suicide bombers,
roadside bombers, and now ironically, from the
very Iraqi police they are training.
We are still bogged down in Iraq - and the
Administration stubbornly holds to failed policies
that drive potential allies away. What we have
seen is a steady loss of lives and mounting costs
in dollars, with no end in sight.
We were misled about weapons of mass destruction.
We are misled now when the costs of Iraq are not
even counted in the President's budget. But having
gone to war, we have a responsibility to keep and
a national interest to achieve in a stable and
peaceful Iraq. To leave too soon would leave
behind a failed state that inevitably would become
a haven for terrorists and a threat to our future,
a problem for the Middle East, and a dangerous
setback in the war against terror.
But the answer is not a stubborn pursuit of the
same arrogant policies; the answer to failure is
not more of the same. Instead we must return more
effectively to the international community, and
share the authority and the burdens with other
nations. We need to use the tools of diplomacy as
well as the tools of war. All of us support our
troops. But if we had built a true coalition, they
would not have to fight almost alone - and
Americans would not have to bear almost all the
costs in Iraq. This President is so committed to
tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that he
refused to ask them to sacrifice even a small
portion of that tax cut to give our soldiers the
weapons and equipment they need.
The lesson here is fundamental: At times, conflict
comes, and the decision must be made. For a
President, the decision may be lonely, but that
does not mean that America should go it alone.
And while we should seek allies, we must never
give anyone else a veto over our national
security. At this decisive time in our history,
when we confront ongoing challenges in Afghanistan
as well as Iraq - and the mortal challenge of
those that would use terror as a weapon and
religion as a shield, there is no greater
imperative for a President than the Constitution's
command to provide for the common defense. If I am
President of the United States, we will do
whatever it takes to ensure that the 21st century
American military is the strongest in the world. I
will not hesitate to use force when it is needed
to wage and win the War on Terror.
At the heart of that force must be a fully
prepared, fully equipped, fully staffed,
state-of-the-art military ready to face any
adversary, anywhere. Four years ago, George Bush
said that our troops lacked the support they
needed. Four years ago, he promised them: "Help is
on the way." He sent that message to the same
military that had been built up in the 1990s and
was soon to perform so brilliantly in Afghanistan
and Iraq. Well, I say this today: George Bush
can't have it both ways. He can't decry the
military's readiness in 2000 and then take credit
for its success in 2001, before he even passed his
first defense budget. Now, in 2004, our armed
forces are more extended than at any time in a
generation -- and at this time, they are still
waiting for help.
Twenty-five hundred of them are still waiting for
medical care. Helicopter pilots have flown
battlefield missions without the best available
anti-missile systems. Civil Affairs personnel,
almost all of them reservists, are stretched to
the breaking point, building schools and
hospitals. Unarmored Humvees roll toward the next
perilous turn in the road. The 428th
Transportation Company had to ask local businesses
back home to donate the steel to armor their
vehicles, and when this President heard about it,
instead of saying, "never again," he said, "good
idea." And tens of thousands of troops were
deployed to Iraq without the most advanced bullet
proof vests that can literally make the difference
between life and death. Lives and blood will
always be the cost of war, but we should never
send young American's into harm's way more exposed
to danger than they have to be.
This President has had his chance; and this
President has not delivered.
So, let me say here today, to every soldier and
every soldier's family: This time help is on the
way, and it won't be coming from George Bush.
If I am President, never again will parents or
husbands or wives of soldiers have to send them
body armor instead of photographs and care
packages. Last month a young newlywed in Virginia
who, as her husband was about to ship out to Iraq,
gave him a bullet proof vest for Valentine's Day.
I can tell you right now: in a Kerry
Administration, no one will be getting body armor
as a gift from a loved one; it will come from the
Armed Forces of the United States of America. We
will supply our troops with everything they need
-- and we will reimburse each and every family who
has had to buy body armor because this
Administration made Valentine's Day part of the
procurement process.
Our military is about much more than moving pins
on a map or amassing expensive new weapon systems.
A strong military depends first of all on the
courage of the men and women who stand a post or
go out on patrol in places around the globe and
who carry on every day until the mission is
accomplished for real. We need a
Commander-in-Chief who honors and supports them,
for real; a Commander-in-Chief who repays their
risks on the battlefield by providing them with
the best weapons and protections as they go into
battle, a Commander-in-Chief who recognizes their
commitment and sacrifice, and offers their
families a decent life here at home.
To all of the military families who are here
today, we say thank you. And to my fellow
veterans, the band of brothers who have been with
me for so long and to whom I owe so much, I pledge
that unlike the time when we fought side by side,
I will be a President who does what's right for
our men and women in uniform.
I will never forget that our true power is
measured not only by the strength of our weapons,
but by the spirit of our soldiers.
To me, that is not just rhetoric; it is the
reality I lived - and it is central to the work of
my life. So I come here today to propose a
Military Family Bill of Rights - real and specific
guarantees - that will keep faith with those who
served and the families who share in their
sacrifice.
Our military families have the right to expect
real leadership of the armed forces from the
Commander-in-Chief. They have a right to
competitive pay and quality housing, decent health
care and dental care. Quality education for their
children. First rate training. The best possible
weaponry and state-of-the-art equipment. They have
a right to timely deployment information. And they
have a right to know that, in the event of
tragedy, help will be there to care and provide
for their families and for them.
America needs a President who will do all that it
takes to create the most modern fighting force on
earth. When the 4th Infantry Division found Saddam
Hussein, they had an unmatched wealth of knowledge
about their surroundings and they were connected
in an unprecedented way to their commanders.
They're known as the "digital division,"
transformed in the Clinton Administration, when
the decision was made to outfit the 4th Division
with the latest advances in information
technology. Their vehicles in the field have
keyboards and touch screen monitors so that troops
can access real time maps, track battlefield
movements, and even send commands by e-mail. We
need to do this across the board. We need to
revolutionize our military capability. Our enemies
don't use the old tactics and -strategies --
neither should we.
Our emphasis has do be on empowering soldiers to
fight more precisely, on reducing the incidents of
friendly-fire and on building a military fit for
the future, not the past. That means pushing
technology down to the smallest units. When we
took on the Taliban, precision bombs onboard
planes flying from aircraft carriers in the Indian
Ocean were guided to their targets by U.S. Special
Forces riding horses across the hills of
Afghanistan. They could do that because of what we
did to strengthen the military in the last decade,
but there is so much more to do. By pushing
real-time information, and the ability to take
action, into the hands of those closest to the
frontlines, we can prepare ourselves for the
perils and possibilities of the years ahead.
The war in Iraq taught us that a lightening-fast
information-age military can drive to Baghdad in
three weeks, but the instability that follows
requires a large force -- and we cannot rely on
reservists alone to make up the difference. I
propose to add 40,000 troops to the regular Army,
not to send to Iraq, but to ease the burden on
troops who have been deployed from one global hot
spot to the next with no end in sight. This
doesn't mean we have to spend more on the
military; instead, we have to be smarter about
what we spend by shifting priorities within the
defense budget, and scaling back some programs
that do more for defense contractors than for the
national defense.
We are weaker today militarily than we should be,
but this Administration stubbornly refuses to
admit it. Soldiers in Iraq are paying the price
everyday because our forces are spread too thin.
There simply aren't enough of them to provide a
prudent reserve of active-duty troops to respond
if they have to in other hotspots. More than
180,000 members of the National Guard and Reserves
are on active duty. Stop-loss programs have kept
more than 30,000 troops in the ranks after their
enlistments expired. If I am President, I will
instruct my Secretary of Defense to conduct a
long-range review of the nation's military force
structure. And until that review is completed, I
will not appoint a Base Closure Commission.
We should not begin that work until we are clear
that we are not wasting resources on excess bases,
and until we know what our future needs will be at
home and around the world.
And as we expand the size of the active-duty Army,
we must also recognize that more numbers alone are
not enough. The threats of terrorism and the
conflicts of the future can only be met with more
engineers, more military police, more
psychological warfare personnel and civil affairs
teams - more special operations forces and more
training for peace keeping missions. We need a
force that is as well prepared, well-trained, and
well-equipped to stabilize a failed state as it is
to wage war in an open desert or on urban streets.
America's strength is not found in our military
alone, but in every area of American life. In
small towns and cities across this country, there
are judges, public administrators, educators,
economists, civil engineers, and public safety
professionals. They represent a vast untapped
reserve of citizens capable - and I believe
willing - to make their contribution to national
security. It is time to marshal their skills and
experience in service to America. They are an army
unto themselves; and today I propose that we
enlist thousands of them in a Civilian Stability
Corps, a reserve organization of volunteers ready
to help win the peace in troubled places.
Like military reservists, they will have peacetime
jobs; but in times of national need, they will be
called into service to restore roads, renovate
schools, open hospitals, repair power systems,
draft a constitution, or build a police force. A
Civilian Stability Corps can bring the best of
America to the worst of the world -- and reduce
pressure on the military.
Yet in the end, at the core of our defense are the
men in women who wear the uniform, their families,
and all those who I call my brothers and sisters,
the veterans of this nation. Their concerns are as
critical to our strength as the weapons systems we
buy or the troop numbers we deploy. We have a
sacred obligation to do our part for those who
have borne the burdens of battle. This is about
the character of our nation and who we are as a
people; it is about keeping America's promise,
about love of country, and the debt we owe to
those who defend it.
America entered into a covenant with those it
drafted and those who enlisted, but the truth is
that, with every story of a veteran who goes
without adequate health care every day, that
covenant is broken. There are countless veterans
who fought our wars who are now fighting year
after year for the benefits they earned. Last year
they had to defeat a Bush Administration proposal
to increase fees and co-payments, which was
nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt drive an
additional one million veterans from the VA health
care system. The President then came back with a
plan to drive 500,000 from the system by 2005. And
then he submitted a similar proposal this year.
If I am President, as part of a Military Families
Bill of Rights, we will fully fund veterans health
and veterans benefits - and our veterans will no
longer be the neglected soldiers of America.
And we have to secure the rights not only of those
who served in the past, but of patriots all across
this country who serve today - in the active duty
military, the Reserves, or the National Guard.
Twenty-percent of our Reservists and their
families don't have health care coverage. But
George Bush threatened to veto funding for Iraq if
it included more money for health care for
Reservists, and then tried to cut the pay of
soldiers in the field and school aid for children
of military families. If I am President, our men
and women in uniform will get the benefits they
deserve.
This Administration also attempted to cut family
separation allowances, imminent danger pay, and
impact aid -- the help local schools depend on to
give military kids the best possible education. I
will protect them all -- and as President, I will
sign legislation to provide for those families who
suffer a loss in war and to protect the livelihood
of reservists who are called up and have to leave
their jobs. This legislation will include $250,000
on top of their present life insurance policies
for all service members who die in the line of
duty.
I will honor the family members of those who fall
in service not just with words, but with deeds.
People like Cyndi Stever and her ten year old
daughter Nichole. When Tony Stever was killed by
enemy fire in Iraq last April, Cyndi said she felt
she had lost her whole life. But more loss was to
come - not just from an enemy, but from her own
government. Not long after she buried her husband,
Cyndi was told she and Nichole would have to leave
their home. Military housing - they were told - is
for military
families. And since Tony made the ultimate
sacrifice, they were no longer a military family.
How can this happen in the United States of
America? It's not right to tell a family that has
just received that knock on the door, "Oh, by the
way - you have to pack up your home and move."
Move where? Who among us thinks it's right to say
such a thing? Who among us could move on short
notice when you don't even know where your
paycheck will come from? If this Administration
says we can afford to throw massive tax cuts at
the wealthiest Americans, then don't tell us to
throw bereaved military families out of their
homes without a chance to pull life back together.
So the Military Family Bill of Rights, will allow
the spouses and children of those killed in action
to remain in military housing for up to a year
after the loss of a loved one. It will offer help
to move on to a new life. It will provide one year
of pay to military dependents of soldiers killed
in action. It will make permanent increases in
family separation allowances, and permanent
guarantees of reservist access to military
healthcare. For reservists who are called up, it
will also permit penalty free withdrawals from
their IRAS to cover the unexpected expenses of
lengthy activations and deployments. This is the
least we can do for those who give the most they
can to our country.
To me, guaranteeing these rights and organizing
our armed forces accordingly is personal; it is in
my soul and it's been a large part of my life.
This commitment goes back more than 35 years to
the years of my own service. It was then that I
learned, together with some of you here today,
about our obligations to each other and our
country's obligation to those in uniform. And
since then, from the struggle for care in our VA
hospitals, to post-traumatic stress disorder, to
Agent Orange, to the battle for military strength
and military pay, to the struggle for answers as
we kept faith with our obligations to find the
truth about POW/MIA, I have tried to be a voice
and a champion for those in uniform who serve our
country.
I make this simple pledge: If I am President, I
will fight for a constant standard of decency and
respect for those who serve their country in our
armed forces - on active duty and as veterans. It
should be no other way and if I am president, it
will be no other way.
Carville’s cavalry
James Carville’s idiomatic face graces John
Kerry’s
website calling on Democrats to give $10
million in 10 days.
Carville’s appeal states, "Our Country can’t take
four more years of this crowd in the White House.
Help me help John Kerry bring hope and change to
America.
The appeal shows it has reached $2,364,570 in two
days.
Dean starts new organization
Howard Dean will launch his new political
organization today at 9:30 (PST) with speeches in
Seattle and in San Francisco. He will then travel
to New York City on Friday for an announcement
speech there.
Dean’s announcement comes after his rocky start as
a Kerry campaign spokesman with Kerry distancing
himself from Dean’s accusation that President Bush
was responsible for the bombings in Madrid, Spain.
homepage