Excuse Me, Senator Kerry, Your Qualifications, Please?
By Frank Salvato
August 24, 2006

You can't turn a page or flip a channel without hearing how the Bush Administration's policies toward the Iraqi conflict are wrong. Or, as the loser of the 2004 presidential election, John Kerry, espoused, "profoundly wrong." What no one wants to consider is whether or not these critics have the qualifications to so recklessly opine.

During a recent press conference, President Bush passionately reiterated his stance on the Iraqi conflict. He alluded to the notion that the continuous bombardment of the American people with negative news by the mainstream media -- and the irresponsible rhetoric of the anti-war left -- has strained, "...the psyche of our country." He continued by saying that the pre-mature withdrawal of US troops from the Iraqi theater would result in disaster stating, "If you think it's bad now, imagine what Iraq would look like if the United States leaves before this government can defend itself and sustain itself."

These concerns are valid. If the United States and Coalition Forces exit the Iraqi theater pre-maturely, it would further embolden the Iranian promoted sectarian violence that is currently taking place. If the forces for democracy abandon their commitment to the Iraqi people -- as was done after the Gulf War -- it would be an open invitation to the Iranian government to invade, making it the most powerful and oil wealthy nation in the Middle East. Without question, this open invitation would be accepted.

Looking at the facts, it would be a complete disaster to abandon the fledgling Iraqi government, as well as their unproven military. Further, anyone with a modicum of common sense understands that offering information -- any information -- to the enemy is stupid. Providing a timetable, complete with dates, for a withdrawal of US and Coalition forces from Iraq is offering the enemy information; stupid.

Keeping all of this in mind, let's take a look at the statements of anti-war activist and junior US Senator from Massachusetts, John Kerry.

Kerry, seethingly, declared that the president was, "profoundly wrong about Iraq and profoundly wrong about the American people." He went on to call the president's policies on the Iraqi conflict an "unmitigated disaster."

He stated that the military had been "strained by the Rumsfeld policy of going to war with too few troops, sending troops into battle with inadequate body armor and overextending the National Guard." Of course, the National Guard was able to both actively participate in their duties in the Iraqi theater while effectively responding to a record number of natural disasters last year. That US soldiers are the best equipped in the world speaks for itself.

Kerry said, "Faith in this Administration has been strained by exaggerations and miscalculations from the promise of 'mission accomplished'..." Here we have a perfect example of irresponsible and deceitful rhetoric. Everyone who cares about accuracy and the truth understands that when the president exclaimed "Mission Accomplished" aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln that he was referring to the initial invasion and liberation activities. Yet Kerry, and the masses of the politically opportunistic with whom he cavorts, continues to mischaracterize the truth for political gain while pandering to the thirst for anti-Bush rhetoric of the agenda-driven mainstream media.

His propaganda continued with, "The Administration's credibility is strained because the President's mantra that 'US troops will stand down as Iraqis stand up' is another misleading myth..." Again, either Kerry doesn't read the reports coming out of CentCom or he is content with espousing inaccurate information. With each passing day there are battalions of Iraqi troops stepping up to take control of provinces and urban areas previously secured by US and Coalition Forces. While imported terrorists from Iran and Syria continue to promote and perpetrate sectarian violence in the regions most covered by the Western media, those regions account for only two of the eighteen provinces in the country. If the "mantra" of "US troops will stand down as Iraqis stand up" is a myth, that's one effective and successful myth!

Mr. Heinz, pardon me, Senator Kerry, finished with, "Budgets are strained by record deficits, while critical needs, from homeland security to Katrina rebuilding go unaddressed..." I have ceased being surprised at the Progressive-Left's blind eye toward our solid economy, the rapidly decreasing deficit and the fact that eliminating redundant federal programs is not the same as cutting needed security and rebuilding programs. Maybe Kerry is ticked-off because he didn't get one of those FEMA credit cards so that he and Teddy Kennedy could hit the town courtesy of another irresponsible government handout program.

The fact of the matter is this; John Kerry's past attempts at crafting foreign policy have been so disastrous, Americans should demand that he stay as far away from the process as humanly possible.

The last time Kerry influenced American foreign policy was when he "testified" before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971, a testimony that included fabrications and untruths. The "victory", which his "testimony" helped to achieve, resulted in a pre-mature withdrawal of US troops from South Vietnam. This issued an open invitation (sound familiar) to the Communist North Vietnamese and Cambodian leader Pol Pot to commit mass genocide to the tune of over 1.7 million people. This is the crowning achievement of John Kerry's foreign policy expertise and one that the good senator opts to routinely ignore.

No one expects John Kerry to apologize to President Bush for the quasi-slanderous inaccuracies of the charges he consistently levels against him. The American people have come to expect the propagation of dishonest political rhetoric from the Progressive-Left. But, if left to his devices, he would inadvertently sell-out the security of this country for his inability to see the danger presented, so as to achieve the seat of power, if only for a brief moment before the Mujahideen kicked down the Oval Office door and terminated his victory with an AK-47 round to the forehead.

John Kerry does, however, owe the American people an apology for attempting to destroy our country's will during a time when we are literally battling for our survival. Then again, the slaughtered Vietnamese and Cambodians of the killing fields are still waiting for Kerry to apologize for his role in their demise, albeit posthumously.

Ellie