Reply #12: link to press release [View All]

[emulatorloo]

http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0208.html


Statement from John Kerry Regarding Bush’s Comments on “Meet the Press”


February  08,  2004

For Immediate Release


“This morning on ‘Meet the Press,’ President Bush said his decision to go to war with Iraq when he did was because Saddam Hussein had ‘the ability to make weapons.’  This is a far cry from what he and his Administration told the American people in 2002.  Back then, President Bush repeatedly told the American people that Saddam Hussein ‘has got chemical weapons.’ And it was on that basis that he sent America's sons and daughters marching off to war.

“The problem is not just that President Bush is changing his story now—it is that it appears he was telling the American people stories in 2002.  President Bush told America that Iraq had chemical weapons two months after his own Defense Intelligence Agency told him that there was—quote—‘no reliable information on whether Iraq is producing and stockpiling chemical weapons.’ And, as President Bush backpedaled from the imminent threat in Iraq, he needs to remember that his rush to war in Iraq moved us away from capturing Osama bin Laden, starting at Tora Bora.

“George Bush needs to take responsibility for his actions and set the record straight.  That's the very least that Americans should be able to expect from the President of the United States.  Either he believed Saddam Hussein had chemical weapons—or he didn't.  Americans need to be able to trust their President—and they deserve the truth. 


“I hope that—in light of this new information today—President Bush will not only immediately agree to testify before his Intelligence Commission, but will clearly and precisely tell the American people what he knew when he launched the Iraq War and why what he is saying today is so very different.”


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