SENATOR JOHN KERRY SHOULD JUST GO AWAY

Once again Senator John Kerry opened his mouth and tried to undermine President Bush and his administration in an article titled “May 15 Deadline Urged for Iraq’s Government”. This time, his statements received only minimal support from his own party, but there was one idea Kerry put forth that, if changed slightly, might help get the formation of the Iraqi government moving faster. He suggested convening a summit of Iraqi leaders and others on neutral ground, with the goal of reaching agreement on a government. I do not believe the newly-elected members of the Iraqi Parliament would agree to a summit meeting outside of Iraq, but maybe they could be closured within Iraq, with no contact with others in their home areas, and hopefully come to an agreement. (However, are they doing any worse than our own Senate is doing with the borders and immigration issue?)

Senator Kerry has no respect for people of the Middle East and showed it with his suggestions that the Iraqis do not want democracy as much as we want it for them, and that Iraqi politicians show no commitment to establish a working government. He has always talked down to the people of the Middle East. Unfortunately, his approach only strengthens distrust of the United States in the Middle East, and may cost us dearly.

Setting up arbitrary deadlines like May 15 for having a government formed or risking the pullout of American troops, as Kerry suggested, is a bad idea. This is nothing more than the cut-and-run proposals put forth by Rep. Murtha of Pennsylvania, Sen. Feingold of Wisconsin, and Democratic Party Leader Howard Dean. The Iraqis are attempting for the first time in their history to set up a democratically elected government. They are currently struggling with the selection of Ibrahim al-Jaafari as Prime Minister. We have to give them time to work through the issues surrounding the selection of the Prime Minister and the formation of a National Unity government. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stated this past week that “it takes patience”, and he quoted Bill Schuster who said “we’re living in the microwave age where we expect everything to be cooked in about 30 seconds.” In Rumsfeld’s words “The world isn’t like that”, but despite the difficulties associated with putting the Iraqi government in place, progress is being made. There are now in excess of 240,000 trained and equipped Iraqi security forces, and they are carrying more and more of the load. Now is not the time to cut and run!

Kerry also said the Bush administration has made only half-hearted diplomatic efforts to overcome the issues preventing the government from being established. He stated that the administration has failed to support U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad’s efforts. Of course there is no basis for these statements. Has the Ambassador said this? NO! Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice visited Iraq this week and pushed the issue, but Kerry totally dismissed her efforts.

Senator John Kerry should just shut up and go home. In my book he is a terrible example of what a Senator should be. The foundation of his career was based on lies about American servicemen in Vietnam. He is what I call pure politician, which means he will say or do anything to get votes no matter who he steps on or hurts in the process. There is no honor in this man. No one should believe anything he says.