Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) harshly criticized the Bush administration for "disdaining diplomacy" in favor of a confrontational and unilateral foreign policy that has hurt the United States' standing around the world and made it less safe.
disdain? I feel that....for not confronting our enemies faster
In a speech Thursday in Los Angeles, the former (and perhaps future) Democratic Party presidential candidate warned that the mistakes of Iraq must not be repeated in the current standoff with Iran.
"War is the ultimate failure of diplomacy," Kerry told a gathering of the Pacific Council on International Policy. "Yet our current leadership has arrogantly discarded this basic principleÂ…. All too often they disdained diplomacy as little more than an inconvenient detour on the chosen path to armed conflict."
chosen by our enemies, asshat
The result, he said, was an ill-advised rush to war in Iraq that alienated other governments and diminished sympathy for the U.S. generated by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. America's current isolation, and the presence of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq, is "playing right into Iranian handsÂ…. The Iranians are delighted," Kerry said.
Emphasizing that a nuclear-armed Iran would be "a very serious threat to the U.S. and our allies," Kerry contended that the most conservative estimates are that Tehran is at least five years away from developing atomic weapons. "There is time for diplomacy to work here," he said, but added that negotiating with Iran is "an uncertain proposition at best."
Kerry spoke before news broke of the agreement between six major powers, including the U.S., to offer an incentive package for Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
| His timing is right up there with AlGore giving a Global Warming speech in a snowstorm |
The 21-year veteran of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee also had harsh words for the Iraqi government. The sight of politicians haggling over Cabinet seats in the midst of an undiminished insurgency is "a disgrace, and this administration ought to get tough," he said.
| Oh, that's rich |
| I guess there isn't time for diplomacy to work there, eh John? |
| But it'll help get those far-left voters |
"There is something bubbling up in America that I believe is going to be reflected in the polls," he said.
revulsion for your return?
As for his own political ambitions, Kerry would say only that he is "thinking very hard" about another presidential run in 2008. "And I'm thinking about it a lot earlier than I'd like to because it's clear there are several other people also thinking about it," he said
"Terayza? Can I have $200 Million, puhleeeeeze?"