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Kerry Was Right

29 Jul 2008 02:19 pm

John_F._Kerry.jpg

As you may recall, back during the 2004 campaign John Kerry said something about counterterrorism being primarily a question to be dealt with through law enforcement and intelligence rather than something that should be understood as primarily a kind of war. George W. Bush was eager to pounce:

Some are skeptical that the war on terror is really a war at all. My opponent said, and I quote, "The war on terror is less of a military operation, and far more of an intelligence-gathering law enforcement operation." I disagree—strongly disagree.

Today, Barry Schweid writes for the AP about a new Pentagon-funded RAND Corporation report:

Its report said that the use of military force by the United States or other countries should be reserved for quelling large, well-armed and well-organized insurgencies, and that American officials should stop using the term "war on terror" and replace it with "counterterrorism."

"Terrorists should be perceived and described as criminals, not holy warriors, and our analysis suggests there is no battlefield solution to terrorism," said Seth Jones, the lead author of the study and a Rand political scientist.

That comes via Spencer Ackerman. Press release here, full study here, congressional briefing here. In the spirit of credit where due, let's raise a glass to John Edwards and his 2008 presidential campaign team for being the only ones willing to stand up and explicitly repudiate the "war on terror" conceptual framework when given a chance back during the primaries.

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Comments (42)

But...but.. THE NATIONAL ENQUIRER!

File under "No Shit, Sherlock."

At the time I seem to recall that somehow the notion of law inforcement, investigation, and intelligence gathering popularly changed from being tools of the trade for the 'lawnorder' types to being some sort of giant gay la-dee-da latte parade of fancy pants ivory tower liberals.

Of course Kerry was right. About this and nearly everything else. We are infinitely poorer as a nation for not electing that guy.

Is this law enforcement?
------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/29/world/29prexy.html?ref=world

WASHINGTON — President Bush on Monday praised Pakistan’s commitment to fighting extremists along its deteriorating border with Afghanistan, only hours after an American missile strike destroyed what American and Pakistani officials described as a militant outpost in the region, killing at least six fighters.

Mr. Bush, meeting with Pakistan’s prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, at the White House, sought to minimize growing concerns that Pakistan’s willingness to fight extremists was waning, allowing the Taliban and Al Qaeda to regroup inside Pakistan and plan new attacks there and beyond.

Senior American officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice just three days ago, publicly scolded Pakistan for not doing more to root out safe havens like the one bombed on Monday in Azam Warsak, a village in South Waziristan near the Afghan border.

Among those believed to have been killed in the missile attack, evidently carried out by a remotely piloted aircraft operated by the Central Intelligence Agency, was an Egyptian identified as a senior Qaeda trainer and weapons expert, according to residents and officials in the area, as well as American officials. Neither the operative’s identity nor that of the others has been confirmed.

The officials spoke anonymously because of the political and diplomatic sensitivities of attacking targets in Pakistan.

The Egyptian operative, Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar, also known as Abu Khabab al-Masri, appears on the State Department’s list of 37 most-wanted terrorists, with a reward of $5 million for his capture. He is said to be the man who designed the explosives that Richard C. Reid, the so-called shoe bomber, hid in his sneakers during a failed attempt to blow up an airliner on a flight from Paris to Miami in 2001.

He was falsely reported to have been killed in a similar attack in January 2006 in news accounts that attributed the claim to Pakistani officials. The timing of Monday’s strike, the latest in a series by remotely piloted American aircraft inside Pakistan, coincided with the first official visit by Mr. Gilani to the United States.

The meetings on Monday carefully sidestepped the political and diplomatic sensitivities that have strained relations ever since political opponents of the country’s authoritarian president, Pervez Musharraf, won elections this year and formed a governing coalition lead by Mr. Gilani.

Neither Mr. Bush nor Mr. Gilani discussed the American strike inside Pakistan, nor recent episodes like the American bombing of a border post in June that killed 11 Pakistani soldiers and inflamed anti-American sentiment. The two leaders appeared eager to show that they were working together closely and respectfully.

With Mr. Gilani by his side on the South Lawn, Mr. Bush praised Pakistan as “a strong ally and a vibrant democracy” and expressed appreciation for “the prime minister’s strong words against the extremists and terrorists.”

“We talked about the need for us to make sure that the Afghan border is secure, as best as possible,” Mr. Bush said before the leaders continued their discussions. “Pakistan has made a very strong commitment to that.”

In his brief remarks and in a joint statement later, Mr. Bush also expressed respect for Pakistan’s sovereignty.

Mr. Gilani, himself seeking to demonstrate his government’s willingness to fight extremism, noted that his party’s leader, Benazir Bhutto, died in an attack by extremists in December.

“This is our own war,” he said, speaking in English. “This is a war which is against Pakistan. And we’ll fight for our own past. And that is because I have lost my own leader, Benazir Bhutto, because of the militants.”

Mr. Bush also announced that the United States would provide $115 million in food aid, including $42 million in the next nine months, to help Pakistan deal with rising food prices, and pledged to support Congressional efforts to expand American aid to areas beyond security and military affairs, including education, energy and agriculture.

The focus of their meetings remained terrorism, though. Asked about tensions in the relationship, the White House press secretary, Dana M. Perino, acknowledged what she described as “the complex issues on the border” between Pakistan and Afghanistan but suggested that differences were overblown.

“It’s tense in that we are working together to try to fight counterterrorism,” she said, “but I think that we are much more on the same page than some people would like to paint.”

In Pakistan, officials and a resident with ties to the Taliban in South Waziristan said Monday’s strike occurred before dawn. At least two missiles hit a compound that had been used as a school, the officials said.

The local resident, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there had been a meeting at the compound on Sunday, but that many of the attendees had left. A local militant commander, Maulavi Nazir, said the strike left seven people dead, including the head of the school. He complained of frequent American strikes in Pakistan and violations of its airspace.

In Washington, officials were still awaiting confirmation that Mr. Midhat, the Qaeda operative, was among those killed, an American official said.

If so, the official said, it would deal Al Qaeda a significant blow.

“This guy is one of their absolute key specialists in poisons and explosives,” the official said. “He was also a key trainer of people involved in operations inside and outside the tribal areas.”

Mr. Midhat helped Al Qaeda and Taliban plotters tailor bombs or poisons for specific terrorist missions, according to the official and the State Department’s rewards list..

“It doesn’t mean they can’t find other trainers,” the official said, “but they will have lost their most seasoned trainer.”

Does anyone remember the afternoon (well, slightly longer) when Rumsfeld rolled out the new name--Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism (GSAVE)? While--to my mind--indisputably accurate, it didn't have the oomph necessary for (1) campaign rhetoric, or (2) defending the executive's overreach on domestic surveillance, torture and related matters. The administration called it a war because calling it anything else didn't serve their purposes. This same report would have been quashed two years ago.

"Is this law enforcement?"

What, the use of a missile? Probably would qualify as fairly restrained police work in Philadelphia.

Overseas law enforcement could use military force--the ATF uses it, the DEA uses it, some Europeans use it, why not US Anti-Terror? Yeah, yeah, the armed forces' mission would need to be modified--but it already has been, why not just make it official?

Of course Kerry was right. About this and nearly everything else. We are infinitely poorer as a nation for not electing that guy.


Posted by Francisco The Man | July 29, 2008 2:32 PM

Yeah! What he said! Of course John Kerry was bloody right! John Kerry is one of the smartest, most capable, most thouhgtful public servants this country has ever seen.

But he "looked French," meaning "didn't come across as some inbred hillbilly with cow manure on his boots," and there's no way we can have a president like that.

Bloody idiots.

Phew! Glad we can put a bow on that and be done with it!

Now we can get down to the business of bringing KSM to court. Nancy Grace will rip him a new one! (Not to mention it will be fun to finally get to put a name and face to all those "counterterrorism" officials so that our "holy warrior" friends can get to know their new targets)

Freakin' Republicans are such idiots. And we are so smart. I love being "right"! It makes me feel SOOO superior.

will someone pass the cheetos?

Hear! Hear! The term "war on terror" was always counterproductive. It had the effect of bestowing upon Bush the title of "War President", a label he'd been coveting for a long time. But it also gave false status to al Qaida, elevating them to nation-like position. It made them appear worthy of a U.S. war effort, when all they are in actuality is a loose network of disaffected thugs.

we should replace "war on terror" with "antiteorrism", not "counterterrorism". unless we plan on hiring terrorists to do our work.

Expect your site to be scrubbed soon. Do you not know you are not suppose to say the name John Edwards until all stories can be straigtened out. You are not helping the black out one bit.

Hear! Hear! The term "war on terror" was always counterproductive. It had the effect of bestowing upon Bush the title of "War President", a label he'd been coveting for a long time. But it also gave false status to al Qaida, elevating them to nation-like position. It made them appear worthy of a U.S. war effort, when all they are in actuality is a loose network of disaffected thugs.

Yeah, and Mondale was right about Reagan raising taxes.

Doesn't matter.
.

Joe,
It's not that he looked French, it's that he wanted to get their permission before acting in the national interest.

It's not that he looked French, it's that he wanted to get their permission before acting in the national interest.

Posted by Judd

Right! Kerry was even going to make us have to all dress up in French baguette outfits and dance a bunch of gay French dances and then roll on the ground and beg a French mime to give us permission before we could even like stop a terrorist from blowing up an army base! I know this 'cause he used the phrase 'global test' and 'allies' and sh*t which is code word talk for 'surrender to the gay French'.

Freakin' Republicans are such idiots.

I assume your comment is supposed to be an argument, right? If so then, yes, you are an idiot, or about 8 years old. Too bad that the current executive branch thinks that terrorism is just an electoral/rhetorical game. Your heroes in DC have fucked things up post 9/11 beyond anybody's wildest imagination. I literally could not imagine at the time that things could be screwed up this badly. I don't waste time feeling superior to people who promulgate disaster.

"John Kerry is one of the smartest, most capable, most thouhgtful public servants this country has ever seen."

This may actually be true, but it says more about the quality of our public servants than it says about John Kerry.

Obviously, Kerry was better than Bush. Kerry's a decent man and a war hero. But he never did or said anything that indicated higher-than-Bush intelligence. And he has to be one of the most charismatically challenged people ever to run for president. That guy just has a very, very hard time appearing human. It's not a character flaw, but you can't pretend its not a political handicap.

El, what do you have against Marcel Marceau?

No, Judd, that is not true. It just so happens that Kerry (and it ends up the French as well) was right when he urged Bush not to rush into war, to let the U.N. weapons inspectors do their job. If they had been allowed to do their job, we would have learned at a much lower cost in terms of treasury and human lives, that Iraq did not have W.M.D.

BTW, Kerry also called for Energy Independence in '04, too.

being the only ones willing to stand up and explicitly repudiate the "war on terror" conceptual framework

You forgot Ron Paul, who repudiated this framework even more starkly than Edwards.

No, Judd, that is not true. It just so happens that Kerry (and it ends up the French as well) was right when he urged Bush not to rush into war, to let the U.N. weapons inspectors do their job. If they had been allowed to do their job, we would have learned at a much lower cost in terms of treasury and human lives, that Iraq did not have W.M.D.

BTW, Kerry also called for Energy Independence in '04, too.

Seriously, though -- Kerry better than Bush Jr. notwithstanding -- can you imagine the zoo it would have been to have President Kerry and the lunatic right wing Republican House & Senate of 2004 - 2006 (and that is presuming the Democrats would have won 2006 under Kerry, a big assumption)?

Would they have impeached him within that time period? I wouldn't be surprised.

But he never did or said anything that indicated higher-than-Bush intelligence.

I thought his handling of the BCCI and BNL investigations was pretty impressive.

Too many Steves,

Are you an idiot? Seriously. Kerry "never did or said anything that indicated higher-than-Bush intelligence"? Whining about charisma, or supposed lack of charisma, is a bullshit adolescent game. I like my public servants knowledgable, not backslapping good ol boys who "you'd like to have a beer with."

I want my public servants to look like people who'd tell me they can't have a beer with me because they've got a pile of work they have to plow through.

I know, crazy, huh?

IIRC, Kerry demolished Bush in their first debate, intellectually and otherwise.

But his handlers, using the valuable lessons gleamed from 2000, warned Kerry that looking smarter than Bush and chuckling whenever W said something stupid was a sure-fire ticket to nowheresville, and urged him to adopt the soft-focus style of campaigning that served him so well for the rest of election.

America! I love this country!

I didn't say Kerry was dumber than Bush. I just didn't find his intellect very impressive. He has this faux-articulate way of speaking, that makes what he's saying sound quite complex, but if you see it written down it doesn't actually make a damn bit of sense. He also seemed to be a very simple party-line thinker -- I can't recall any statements that displayed a deeper understanding of political philosophy, the way Obama does (and the way Bush's neocon advisers at least had, even if they were disastrously wrong). If I remember right, Kerry was an even worse student than Dubya. But I take back any insinuation that he's as dumb as Dubya. Bush displays below-average intelligence for a guy with his level of education.

As far as charisma, I wasn't saying that I want a president I can have a beer with. I was saying that charisma is an obvious political asset. Kerry stunning lack of it means he probably would have been an ineffective president. Hell, I voted for the guy, but I did it with regret. I was much happier this year voting for Obama in the primary.

There is plenty that shows that Kerry is extremely intelligent, and more importantly works hard with that intelligence to find ways to make things better. You clearly absorbed the RW spiel that Kerry did nothing in the Senate -not realizing that that was as much a lie as the swiftboating of his service.

Kerry has contributed on every major issue that faces this country.
- Kerry wrote and sponsored with Kennedy the precursor bill to S-Chip (children's health insurance). He also proposed re-insurance of catastophic healthcare costs - an idea Obama picked up for his program. This was likely the most interesting creative idea that was proposed in either 2004 or 2008 on healthcare.

- On non-state terrorism, Kerry wasn't just right on how to fight it - he wrote the legislation to combat international money laundering that the Republicans and some Democrats fought in 2000 that was passed in 2001 after 911 and has provided the tools to follow the money. (Read his book New War and you will see he saw the danger before virtually anyone else.) This came from his BCCI investigation.

- BCCI, Kerry stood against his own party as well as the Republicans to continue a 5 year investigation that ultimately provided the proof of drug money laundering and fraud that was used by the NYC DA, Mogenthau, Kerry took it do after his committee was ended and the Justice Department did nothing. This was OBL's bank. (Kerry and his investigator Jack Blum were speaking of the lack of transparency in international banking again last week at a Finance Committee hearing dealing with USB and the people who cheated the IRS. You might consider that Kerry is unique in understanding the foreign policy and Finance issues there - as he is on both SFRC and the Finance Committee. It's the 7/24 hearing here - http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/hearings.htm)

Global warming: In addition to being involved on global warming since 1987 when he was a member of Gore's first Senate committee, Kerry was the Congressional delegation to Bali. Though the media gave little attention to this - Kerry was praised in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by the Bush administration for the work he did there. The President’s chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality, James Connaughton, spoke before the SFRC hearing chaired by Senator Menendez. Mr. Connaughton was part of the President’s delegation who attended the second week of the Bali Conference. Because of the Senate schedule, Senator Kerry flew 40 hours round trip to spend 36 hours as the sole US Congressional representative to the conference. At a SFRC hearing earlier this year, Mr. Connaughton, who represented President Bush said:
“I would particularly also want to call out thanks to Senator Kerry for coming to Bali. I would note that the remarks he gave in Bali were very constructive in helping to educate the international community on the needs, what it would take for America to move forward together in a bi-partisan way. I thought those remarks were very well received. Senator Kerry, thank you for that.”
Listening to the hearing, the Senator is praised for his leadership on this issue by both Republicans and Democrats.
http://www.senate.gov/~foreign/hearings/2008/hrg080124p.html

Here was even stronger praise from an earth day SFRC hearing: Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat (around 4 minutes in) said:

"The fact that we had a treaty was significantly due to the fact that Senator Kerry was there. He was a virtual part of our negotiating team, without his day and night support and lobbying of the EU. we would not have gotten a treaty.

"http://www.kerryvision.net/2008/04/in_defense_of_treehuggers.html#comments . (I was surprised to see this on Kerryvision because I had heard nothing on this and it was the same day Kerry did an amazing job on the Future of the Internet hearing.

Kerry, was also credited by Gore as having the best environmental record in the Senate. Even before that as LT Governor of MA he succeeded in getting the NE governors to put in place the cap and trade program for sulfur to deal with acid rain - it ended up being a model for what was done nationally.

Kerry and Snowe were the sponsors of the Affordable Housing Fund, an idea he has pushed since at least 2000. He also proposed 3 other provisions that were with it in Dodd's big housing bill.

Don't forget that Kerry's proposals for how to get out of Iraq made in 2004 - and distorted and ignored by the media - were close to what the bipartisan Iraq Study Group recommended. In 2006, the Senate passed by voice vote his sense of the Senate resolution amendment in the fall defense appropriations bill.

The current mainstream Democratic position on Iraq is based on Kerry/Feingold - and every 2008 Democratic candidate ran on a variation of it - even though Obama and Clinton had voted against it in summer 2006. Edwards spoke against it then. After the 2006 election, they shifted their position. (Here is Biden's view of Kerry's importance on Iraq policy - http://www.kerryvision.net/2007/09/biden_gives_props_to_senator_k.html

Ever heard of Iran/Contras - without Kerry investigating charges that the Contras being illegally armed when no other Senator would, it is possible that that scandal would have just been Iran/hostages. Kerry's work likely helped end that illegal funding and their bringing cocaine into the country - the latter having occurred was confirmed by the CIA in the 1990s

In each of these, Kerry showed intelligence and creativity. When I worked it was in the research arm of a major company, I saw and knew many brilliant people - Senator Kerry, as seen in Senate hearings, is equal to the best of them. Check out some of the Senate Committee sites - they archive video of hearings. One thing you will see is whether SFRC, Small Business, Commerce or Finance - others routinely reference things Kerry said or continue his lines of questioning - that more than media designations of who is respected is what really demonstrates respect.

Joe,
It's not that he looked French, it's that he wanted to get their permission before acting in the national interest.

Posted by Judd | July 29, 2008 3:26 PM

You know, when the assholes who voted Bush into office don't even pretend to believe their own bullsit anymore, and yet still continue to support the same bunch of crooks, you have to wonder what really motivates them.

To too many Steve's,

College grades don't always measure intellinge. In fact Kerry's grades, though mediocre were higher than Bush's. The comparison was done on only the first three years. Kerry had a very poor freshman year, then did progressively better. Bush did about the same every year. They came out near the same for the first 3 years. You can consider what the result would have been for 4 years.

Bust that doesn't capture the truth. Kerry was in those four years, the star of the Yale debate club and likely the best debater in the country - not to mention winning debates versus the top British schools. He was also the President of the Yale Student Union, which brought in political speakers for both his Junior and Senior years - the only Junior to have that position. In addition he played four sports at the varsity or junior varsity level and he learned to fly a plane.

This likely explains why a man who was fluent in French from childhood and able to meet with a French leader with no translator got a "C" in French. It is beyond ridiculous to assess a 64 year old man's intelligence from his undergraduate grades. I know I was blown away as a college students (getting grades you would approve of) when I heard his testimony before the Senate. The students I was with were equally impressed.

Karenc,

I remember Kerry's position on Iraq. It was rather interesting. I seem to recall he wanted to quickly move the newly enlisted Iraqi army members to the US for concentrated training, instead of them being blown up while waiting in line or being targets while being trained. Seemed like a good idea at the time. To juxtapose, I seem to recall Bush's strategy was "stay the course" and "as they stand up, we'll stand down". Funny how people voted for Bush because Kerry was a "flip flopper".

Kerry was overall a better candidate than Bush, yet still lost. Unfortunately, I think the same thing will happen this year and Obama will lose.

Me:"Is this law enforcement?"

What, the use of a missile? Probably would qualify as fairly restrained police work in Philadelphia.

Overseas law enforcement could use military force--the ATF uses it, the DEA uses it, some Europeans use it, why not US Anti-Terror? Yeah, yeah, the armed forces' mission would need to be modified--but it already has been, why not just make it official?

I dunno, looks like an assassination or "hit" to me.

But yeah I see what you're saying. The ATF in Waco or Idaho or law enforcement in poorer sections of cities often shoot first ask questions later.

Let's not forget that George Will explicitly said Kerry was right on this in a Post column about 2 years ago.

Freddiemac,

You were right on the training out of Iraq, but he wanted other countries, especially those in the region to do some of this. After the election,when he went on his trip to Europe and the Middle East, Jordan, Eqypt, Germany and France all volunteered to split that responsibility. Kerry spoke of this to Dr Rice in the SFRC hearing before she was confirmed. She and the Bush administration rejected it out of hand saying that the training was proceeding well in Iraq - that was early spring 2005. (this was part of what he meant by getting the world involved - and was mocked by people who said it was not possible.)

The main thing he proposed was a regional summit which would used the vested interest that the neighbors had in a stable Iraq to provide the support the Iraqis needed to make the political decisions they needed. He also argued that the Iraqis would themselves thrown out any foreign (Al Qaeda) terrorists when they had a vested interest in the future of their own country.

Francisco the Man and Joe from Lowell,
Your comments made my day! I'm with you!
I'd not only love to have a beer with John Kerry to thank him for being right, and for continuing to do what's right, even when people neglect to give him the credit he so deeply deserves; I'd love to have a beer with both of you!

and if Kerry had managed to run a good campaign for just one month instead of zero months, he would have won. Being right now does us no good.

and if Kerry had managed to run a good campaign for just one month instead of zero months, he would have won. Being right now does us no good.

. Kerry was in those four years, the star of the Yale debate club and likely the best debater in the country - not to mention winning debates versus the top British schools.

"I got kicked off the debate team in high school for saying, 'Yeah? Well, fuck you.' I thought that's what we were supposed to do. Leave the other guy speechless."

--Ron White

Kerry, Edwards, RAND, George Will, and everybody else who has been pointing out for years the counterproductive stupidity of elevating a loosely-affiliated gang of criminal maniacs to the status of Soldiers in the Great War, are all right.

But John Kerry was a candidate perfectly consistent with the McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis tradition of political malpractice on the part of lefty Dems. Which is to say a candidate who catastrophically projected accurately the ideas and mind-set of lefty Dems.

WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO, SEND LENNY BRISCO INTO THE CAVE WITH HANDCUFFS ROFLROFLROFL.


Comments closed August 12, 2008.

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