April 5, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Two Deadlines and an Exit
By JOHN F. KERRY

Washington

WE are now in the third war in Iraq in as many years. The first was against Saddam Hussein and his supposed weapons of mass destruction. The second was against terrorists whom, the administration said, it was better to fight over there than here. Now we find our troops in the middle of an escalating civil war.

Half of the service members listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall died after America's leaders knew our strategy would not work. It was immoral then and it would be immoral now to engage in the same delusion. We want democracy in Iraq, but Iraqis must want it as much as we do. Our valiant soldiers can't bring democracy to Iraq if Iraq's leaders are unwilling themselves to make the compromises that democracy requires.

As our generals have said, the war cannot be won militarily. It must be won politically. No American soldier should be sacrificed because Iraqi politicians refuse to resolve their ethnic and political differences.

So far, Iraqi leaders have responded only to deadlines -- a deadline to transfer authority to a provisional government, and a deadline to hold three elections.

Now we must set another deadline to extricate our troops and get Iraq up on its own two feet.

Iraqi politicians should be told that they have until May 15 to put together an effective unity government or we will immediately withdraw our military. If Iraqis aren't willing to build a unity government in the five months since the election, they're probably not willing to build one at all. The civil war will only get worse, and we will have no choice anyway but to leave.

If Iraq's leaders succeed in putting together a government, then we must agree on another deadline: a schedule for withdrawing American combat forces by year's end. Doing so will empower the new Iraqi leadership, put Iraqis in the position of running their own country and undermine support for the insurgency, which is fueled in large measure by the majority of Iraqis who want us to leave their country. Only troops essential to finishing the job of training Iraqi forces should remain.

For this transition to work, we must finally begin to engage in genuine diplomacy. We must immediately bring the leaders of the Iraqi factions together at a Dayton Accords-like summit meeting. In a neutral setting, Iraqis, working with our allies, the Arab League and the United Nations, would be compelled to reach a political agreement that includes security guarantees, the dismantling of the militias and shared goals for reconstruction.

To increase the pressure on Iraq's leaders, we must redeploy American forces to garrisoned status. Troops should be used for security backup, training and emergency response; we should leave routine patrols to Iraqi forces. Special operations against Al Qaeda and other foreign terrorists in Iraq should be initiated only on hard intelligence leads.

We will defeat Al Qaeda faster when we stop serving as its best recruitment tool. Iraqis ultimately will not tolerate foreign jihadists on their soil, and the United States will be able to maintain an over-the-horizon troop presence with rapid response capacity. An exit from Iraq will also strengthen our hand in dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat and allow us to repair the damage of repeated deployments, which flag officers believe has strained military readiness and morale.

For three years now, the administration has told us that terrible things will happen if we get tough with the Iraqis. In fact, terrible things are happening now because we haven't gotten tough enough. With two deadlines, we can change all that. We can put the American leadership on the side of our soldiers and push the Iraqi leadership to do what only it can do: build a democracy.

John F. Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, was the Democratic nominee for president in 2004.

COME ALONG PEOPLE - OF COURSE KERRY WANTS to make his big grandstand and call for immediate withdrawl - because the GOP wants to wipe their hands of the mess over there because they got a fresh market in Iran - HELLO?  

NOw that the killing is done, the country is in shambles;  now that the schools no longer exist and the hospitals no longer stand;  now that the famine rate has doubled and the conditions are way worse then before we ivaded;  Now that the noble cause he wouldn't talk to a mother of a fallen soldier about for over a freakin year is well no longer all that important and Iran is looking nice and a lot like dollar signs and some more good ole blood spill - well NOW our hard assed presidential candadite John "Takes no shit" Kerry is allowed to Make the call - get em out of Iraq because we need em for Iran and besides - who wants to hang out for a civil war and a bunch of pesky terrorist camp leaders kidnapping and releasing our citizens who come out of detention looking healthy - untortured and ALIVE - and making us look bad.

Give me a freakin break people - John Kerry is making that call because it's time to make the call - but Bush has been so damned "stay the course" and noble cause this and thating it that HE CAN'T MAKE THE CALL without make all of us look really crazy for having such a crack pot calling the shots - For Christ's sake people - get a grip would you - We are talking about John Kerry - Mr. I don't have the guts to call my opponent on his cheating ways because I am a sissy or working on the same team .  You people have got to be kidding me?  Please say you are!

Everyone repeat after me "I will not trust another democrat or republican as long as I live?"  I will not be fooled once more into thinking that they are any different from each other.  I will never again believe that Kerry or any of the other sissies posing as a civil servant under the democratic or republican party is doing something because we want them to - Not as it stands now - and not if I keep praying about something that IS ALREADY GOING TO HAPPEN - EVEN if MICKEY MOUSE were the rat with the balls making the demands.  Get real - Maybe I will write a letter to the president demanding that he pull the troops out of Iraq and when he does (because he already said he was going to) You all can think I have some real influence and scared the shit out of the GOP with my threats and harsh words and maybe you will all nominate me for the next democratic presidential candadite -

I am so disappointed in all of you  -

Dear xxx:

    I appreciate hearing your views on the Senate resolution to censure President Bush for illegally spying on Americans.  I am proud to be a cosponsor of this resolution because I believe that the President should be held accountable for his actions.

    Like many Americans, I was shocked to learn in December 2005 that the National Security Agency (NSA) has eavesdropped on the phone and e-mail conversations of thousands of people within the United States without the consent of a judge, as is required by the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act (FISA).

    Nothing is more important to me than the security of our country, and I believe that our intelligence agencies should absolutely be listening to terrorists' conversations.  But that is why we have FISA, which allows the President to wiretap anyone as long as he gets a warrant from the FISA court within three days after eavesdropping.  Instead of following the
FISA law, the President has chosen to simply ignore it, and to refuse to submit to the oversight of the Congress and the courts.

    Because of the President's contempt for Congressional oversight, those of us in Congress still have no understanding of how extensive this spying is, or how many people have been affected by this program.  In addition, there are indications that the program is ineffective, and actually hinders the work of terrorism investigators by swamping them with insignificant information about innocent Americans.  I believe this
resolution is an important step in answering critical questions about the
program.
    The conduct of the President in acting as though he is above the law has very real consequences for the civil rights and liberties of American
citizens.  Security and liberty are not an "either-or" choice.  They are the fundamental principles by which our democracy thrives.  

As we continue the fight against terrorism, we must also continue to protect the Constitution and the checks and balances that are so important to the balance of power between the Presidency, the Congress, and the judiciary.

    Again, thanks for sharing your views with me.  Please don't hesitate to
let me know how you feel on any issue that concerns you.

                    Sincerely,

He wants to clean up his friggin mess before that all caves in on his dumb head.

Ain't no cleanin THAT up, georgy-porgy puddin pie.

Feathers on the wind,
Flimsy kites...on a stormy day.

Are we waiting to be kissed by a prince or what?