Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Real Deal
You're probably going to want to read this.
Key grafs:
This President was in denial. He hitched his wagon to the ideologues who surround him, filtering out those who disagreed, including leaders of his own party and the uniformed military. The result is a long litany of misjudgments with terrible consequences.
The administration told us we’d be greeted as liberators. They were wrong.
They told us not to worry about looting or the sorry state of Iraq’s infrastructure. They were wrong.
They told us we had enough troops to provide security and stability, defeat the insurgents, guard the borders and secure the arms depots. They were wrong.
They told us we could rely on exiles like Ahmed Chalabi to build political legitimacy. They were wrong.
They told us we would quickly restore an Iraqi civil service to run the country and a police force and army to secure it. They were wrong.
In Iraq, this administration has consistently over-promised and under-performed. This policy has been plagued by a lack of planning, an absence of candor, arrogance and outright incompetence. And the President has held no one accountable, including himself.
Also, Kerry gives four specific goals for the current administration; all are fleshed out pretty specifically, but here are the goals themselves (and if they sound vague, read the speech itself--there's a lot of substance there):
Comments(0) |
Key grafs:
This President was in denial. He hitched his wagon to the ideologues who surround him, filtering out those who disagreed, including leaders of his own party and the uniformed military. The result is a long litany of misjudgments with terrible consequences.
The administration told us we’d be greeted as liberators. They were wrong.
They told us not to worry about looting or the sorry state of Iraq’s infrastructure. They were wrong.
They told us we had enough troops to provide security and stability, defeat the insurgents, guard the borders and secure the arms depots. They were wrong.
They told us we could rely on exiles like Ahmed Chalabi to build political legitimacy. They were wrong.
They told us we would quickly restore an Iraqi civil service to run the country and a police force and army to secure it. They were wrong.
In Iraq, this administration has consistently over-promised and under-performed. This policy has been plagued by a lack of planning, an absence of candor, arrogance and outright incompetence. And the President has held no one accountable, including himself.
Also, Kerry gives four specific goals for the current administration; all are fleshed out pretty specifically, but here are the goals themselves (and if they sound vague, read the speech itself--there's a lot of substance there):
- 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.
Comments(0) |
