Strong and Smart

Instead of a leader who blatantly sugarcoats the facts for self-serving reasons, I want a leader who holds himself accountable, tells the truth no matter how ugly and then proceeds to tell me what he will do about it.
John Kerry did just that with his speech at NYU. It marks the beginning of an all-out strategy to hammer Bush on his incompetence regarding Iraq and his continued inability to tell us the truth and take responsibility for his costly mistakes:

The President now admits to “miscalculations” in Iraq...

His were not the equivalent of accounting errors. They were colossal failures of judgment – and judgment is what we look for in a president

....

Let me put it plainly: The President’s policy in Iraq has not strengthened our national security. It has weakened it.Two years ago, Congress was right to give the President the authority to use force to hold Saddam Hussein accountable...This President misused that authority.

It was a compelling speech that clearly states where John Kerry stands on the issue of national security:

A president’s first obligation is to make America safer, stronger and truer to our ideals. September 11...brought to our shores the defining struggle of our times: the struggle between freedom and radical fundamentalism. And it made clear that our most important task is to fight… and to win… the war on terrorism.

To win, America must be strong. And America must be smart.

To prevent that from happening, we must call on the totality of America’s strength. Strong alliances, to help us stop the world’s most lethal weapons from falling into the most dangerous hands. A powerful military, transformed to meet the new threats of terrorism and the spread of weapons of mass destruction. And all of America’s power – our diplomacy, our intelligence system, our economic power, the appeal of our values – each of which is critical to making America more secure and preventing a new generation of terrorists from emerging.

He presented a four-point plan:

First, the President has to get the promised international support so our men and women in uniform don’t have to go it alone.

Second, the President must get serious about training Iraqi security forces.

Third, the President must carry out a reconstruction plan that finally brings tangible benefits to the Iraqi people.

Fourth, the President must take immediate, urgent, essential steps to guarantee the promised elections can be held next year.

Terrorism is a global problem and we should not face it alone. The only way we can achieve peace and stability in Iraq is by enlisting the help of the international community though a bona fide alliance.

The Bush Administration can not establish that alliance with its "you're either with me or against me" philosophy. It has arrogantly squandered the goodwill the world had for the United States after 9/11. By pursuing hegemonic policies it has alienated other nations and lost all credibility.

International cooperation is essential in fighting terrorism. This can only be achieved by rejecting George Bush and his colossal failures and electing John Kerry.


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