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IRAQ WAR SUPPORTER BOB KERREY TO CAMPAIGN FOR AL FRANKEN #2

By Michael B. Brodkorb | November 9, 2007

Since my post went up earlier this morning about Iraq war supporter Bob Kerry campaigning for Team Franken, I've received numerous emails from Democrats expressing puzzlement at Team Franken's decision.

Most people I've spoken with this morning think it's very likely that Team Franken doesn't know Kerrey's strong record of support for the war in Iraq.

As promised, please read after the page jump for information on Bob Kerrey's support for the war in Iraq.   

Bob Kerry on Iraq 

1998: Sponsored "Iraq Liberation Act"

"Lieberman has long called for an American military effort to oust Saddam Hussein, with or without the support of the United Nations. In 1998, along with Senators McCain, Trent Lott, and Bob Kerrey, he sponsored the Iraq Liberation Act, which stated that it 'should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq.' As Lieberman told me in his office, 'I've said since the end of the Gulf War that I think we made a mistake not to take him out when his forces were in disarray.'" Source: The New Yorker, December 16, 2002)

Kerrey served as member of Committee for the Liberation of Iraq

"With the administration's blessing, a new group is forming to press the case in the United States and Europe for ejecting Hussein from power. Called the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, the organization is modeled on a successful lobbying campaign to expand the NATO alliance. Members include former secretary of state George P. Shultz, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former senator Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.)." Source: Washington Post, November 4, 2002) 

Committee Members: "William Kristol, Weekly Standard" and "Honorable Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives."

(News Release, Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, PR Newswire, November 15, 2002)

2002: Kerrey supported invasion

"Former Democratic senator Bob Kerrey of Nebraska, now president of New School University in New York City and part of a group of leading ex-politicians and other opinion leaders calling for Saddam's removal, is generally supportive of Bush's strategy in the war on terrorism.

"Yet Kerrey is very critical of Bush's overall handling of foreign policy. He says Bush puts too much emphasis on war drums and not enough on poverty, hunger and ignorance.

"'He has not gone to the world community and said that there is a growing gap between the haves and the have-nots, and we have to have a response to it,' Kerrey says." Source: USA Today , December 30, 2002) 

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"One liberal who has settled this dilemma in favor of war is Bob Kerrey, the former senator and current president of the New School University. Mr. Kerrey, citing not Iraq's arsenal but its atrocities, has signed up with a committee of neoconservatives who support the liberation of Iraq. His argument is actually more complicated than I can do justice to here, but it is explicitly driven by the impulse to do good rather than the impulse to defend ourselves . He is a humanitarian hawk. Naturally Mr. Kerrey's stance has roused the doctrinaire claque in his traditionally leftist student body to demand he resign." Source: New York Times, December 14, 2002

2002: Didn't need to see hard evidence to go to war

MATTHEWS: "Well, here's a big question for the country, 80 percent of the American people in the latest NBC poll this week say they want to see hard evidence presented by the president or the U.N. inspectors of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Is that your standard? The president must show evidence of weapons of mass destruction before we go in." KERREY: "It would not be my standard. I do hope that we can keep an international force together, an international coalition together. I think it's going to be exceptionally difficult for these inspectors to produce hard evidence. They had a very difficult time up to 1998. It's relatively simple for Iraq to hide these, especially biological and chemical capabilities." Source: Transcript, "Hardball with Chris Matthews," MSNBC, December 12, 2002)
 

2002: Saw "substantial cause for war"

KERREY: "I think there is substantial cause for war. First of all, we have a substantial military deployment in place right now. How long do we keep that going? How long do we ask our pilots to fly missions in the north and south to protect Iraqi Kurds and Iraq Shiites? How long do we keep an embargo in place with American sailors having to enforce that embargo in the Persian Gulf? How long do we keep our forces deployed in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to protect against a very aggressive and murderous regime in Iraq. How long do we allow the people of Iraq to suffer? And these are questions that we have to answer and only America unfortunately has this kind of burden." Source: Transcript, "Hardball with Chris Matthews," MSNBC, December 12, 2002) 

2003: WMDs or not, invasion was justified

"Former Senator Bob Kerrey, a Democrat who served on the Senate Intelligence Committee, has been a strong supporter of the President's decision to overthrow Saddam. 'I do think building a democratic secular state in Iraq justifies everything we've done,' Kerrey, who is now president of New School University, in New York, told me." Source: New Yorker, May 12, 2003)

 
2003: War was to liberate oppressed people

"On March 8th, a crowd gathered in freezing Omaha, Nebraska, to wave banners saying 'Saddam is a murderer. Shame on Europe,' and to cheer Bob Kerrey, a former Democratic presidential candidate, for his resolute support for war. ('This war is not for oil. It's not for glory. It's for the freedom of others who have suffered mightily.' ) Source: Economist , March 15, 2003)

2004: War helping terror recruitment
"Yesterday even Bob Kerrey, a committee member who stoutly favored the war in Iraq, said that it is now helping terrorist recruitment through televised images of 'largely a Christian army in a Muslim nation.'" Source: New York Times, April 9, 2004

2004: We should let the UN take control

"Third, we should swallow our pride and appeal to the United Nations for help in Iraq. We should begin by ceding joint authority to the United Nations to help us make the decisions about how to transfer power to a legitimate government in Iraq . Until recently I have not supported such a move. But I do now. Rather than sending in more American forces or extending the stay of those already there, we need an international occupation that includes Muslim and Arab forces." Source: Bob Kerrey, "Fighting the wrong war," New York Times, April 11, 2004)

2006: Iraq War didn't make us safer

"Like Mr. Lieberman, Mr. Kerrey supported the toppling of Saddam Hussein early on and said that the region was safer without him in power. But he added: 'Do I think invading Iraq helped the war on terror? No, I do not. I think it reduced the threat in the region, which was serious.'''

(Jennifer Medina, "Kerrey Supports Lieberman, And Offers His Views on Iraq," New York Times, October 26, 2006)

2006: Kerrey: "We're heading into defeat"

"After an event discussing the 9/11 Commission, Mr. Kerrey, the former Nebraska senator, offered his support to Mr. Lieberman, saying the senator was 'central to solving the problems of this nation.'' But Mr. Kerrey also suggested that he had a different view on how to begin troop withdrawal from Iraq.

'''The problem is that we've got to figure something out, because right now we're heading into defeat,' Mr. Kerrey said. 'The trend line is not going in the right direction.''' Source: New York Times, October 26, 2006)

2007: Terrorist are in Iraq because they fear democracy

"Those who argue that radical Islamic terrorism has arrived in Iraq because of the U.S.-led invasion are right. But they are right because radical Islam opposes democracy in Iraq. If our purpose had been to substitute a dictator who was more cooperative and supportive of the West, these groups wouldn't have lasted a week." Source: Bob Kerrey, "The Left's Iraq Muddle," Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2007)

2007: Iraqis want self government

"American liberals need to face these truths: The demand for self-government was and remains strong in Iraq despite all our mistakes and the violent efforts of al Qaeda, Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias to disrupt it . Al Qaeda in particular has targeted for abduction and murder those who are essential to a functioning democracy: school teachers, aid workers, private contractors working to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure, police officers and anyone who cooperates with the Iraqi government. Much of Iraq's middle class has fled the country in fear.

"With these facts on the scales, what does your conscience tell you to do? If the answer is nothing, that it is not our responsibility or that this is all about oil, then no wonder today we Democrats are not trusted with the reins of power. American lawmakers who are watching public opinion tell them to move away from Iraq as quickly as possible should remember this: Concessions will not work with either al Qaeda or other foreign fighters who will not rest until they have killed or driven into exile the last remaining Iraqi who favors democracy .

"The key question for Congress is whether or not Iraq has become the primary battleground against the same radical Islamists who declared war on the U.S. in the 1990s and who have carried out a series of terrorist operations including 9/11. The answer is emphatically 'yes. '" Source: Bob Kerrey, "The Left's Iraq Muddle," Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2007)

2007: Immediate pull out would be a "substantial psychological victory" for Osama bin Laden

"This does not mean that Saddam Hussein was responsible for 9/11; he was not. Nor does it mean that the war to overthrow him was justified–though I believe it was. It only means that a unilateral withdrawal from Iraq would hand Osama bin Laden a substantial psychological victory ." Source: Bob Kerrey, "The Left's Iraq Muddle," Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2007)

2007: Pullout is "real victory" for bin Laden.

 BILL MOYERS: "That brings me to your THE WALL STREET JOURNAL piece, you said in there that if the U.S. pulls out prematurely, it would– it would hand Osama bin Laden a psychological victory." BOB KERREY: "The only mistake in that sentence is it's probably not a psychological victory. It probably is a real victory ." Source: Transcript, "Bill Moyers Journal," PBS, June 1, 2007)

2007: Can't pull out, need to have a presence

"I think it's likely that the Iraqi government will say, we need some kind of U.S. force to make certain that a much stronger in Syria, much stronger military in Iran, and much stronger military in Turkey don't take advantage of a potential power vacuum. But they have to ask us what they want. And I would say in some– I would say yes to maintaining some kind of military force for that purpose. And if they ask us to have forces left not as occupiers, but to help make certain that those borders are protected, I would say yes. But they ask us for economic and military assistance, I would say yes, up to a point." Source: Transcript, "Bill Moyers Journal," PBS, June 1, 2007) – http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06012007/transcript3.html

2007: Withdrawal not "the right thing."

"Once you do that, we create an even worse power vacuum than was there before. I'm not calling– I do not think expeditious withdrawal is the right thing." Source: Transcript, "Bill Moyers Journal," PBS, June 1, 2007)

2007: Democrats just trying to score points with base

BILL MOYERS: "What a paradox, that the Democrats appear to capitulate, while the Republicans start talking about the Fall being a time to get out. Are the Democrats going to be hoisted on their own petard?" BOB KERREY: "Well, they could be, because it– it appears to be a capitulation. It's not a capitulation. They were– the– the Democrats were faced with this. The President vetoes the supplemental that calls for timetables. And what do they do? Send him another bill that he vetoes? That supplemental funds the troops. So at some point, you either just keep sending him bills that he vetoes and score points with your base, or you do the right thing . And I think they did the right thing by sending the President a bill that he will sign. They made their point, that they would prefer to have timetables." Source: Transcript, "Bill Moyers Journal," PBS, June 1, 2007

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