Kerry: "there should be no confusion here. We're not going into some long-term operation."

[ProSense]

Allied Action In Libya, Tuesday Developments

<...>
Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) told All Things Considered host Melissa Block today that "there should be no confusion here. We're not going into some long-term operation." After three or four days, he said, the U.S. should be able to give control of the military operation to NATO.

And, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee added, "this event is not calculated to get rid of Col Gadhafi. ... The president was clear about that."

"When we bombed in Kosovo," Kerry said, "it was one year between the time we bombed Serbia and the departure of (Slobodan) Milosevic. ... There are many things that could unfold now that will put pressure on Col. Gadhafi. But this military, brief operation is to protect civilians" and to take away Gadhafi's power to strike at those civilians.

<...>

[elleng]

1. Difficult details - Wes Clark

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnnr9-UT6K0

[Fuddnik]

2. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!.......Again.

[Clio the Leo]

3. kick nt

[StarsInHerHair]

4. I think it is the proper thing to do

nt

[rug]

5. Of course it's not a long-term operation.

"Sec. 3. This resolution shall expire when the President shall determine that the peace and security of the area is reasonably assured by international conditions created by action of the United Nations or otherwise, except that it may be terminated earlier by concurrent resolution of the Congress."

[ProSense]

6. Oh brother

:rofl:

[rug]

7. "We're not going into some long-term operation."

:rofl:

[ProSense]

8. Gaddafi could be gone before you know it

[rug]

14. "could"

:rofl:

[ProSense]

16. Yeah,

if it happens: Obama does not deserve credit for this!!!! What the hell did he do that make you think he deserves credit?????

:rofl:

[rug]

18. "if it happens"

:rofl:

[ProSense]

19. This is

fun, don't you agree?

[rug]

20. No. It's actually quite stupid.

[ProSense]

21. .

:rofl:

[displacedvermoter]

29. Got what?

[slay]

9. unrec

n/t

[ProSense]

10. So?

Thanks for sharing.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[catgirl]

12. Except this is John Kerry

John Kerry discussing the situation.

[ProSense]

13. Does it hurt?

:rofl:

[Ikonoklast]

17. So, you admit that anything pro-Obama is reprehensible to you.

Good or bad.

Telling.

Not surprising, but telling nonetheless.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Runework]

22. yeah....

John F. Kerry, Oct 2002. "The threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real,"

[ClarkUSA]

23. And Kucinich gave a blank check to Bush after 9/11. Ditto for Hillary.

Your point is?

[karynnj]

27. Out of context - and you know it

I thought that the left was better than taking quotes out of context.

The fact is that EVERY speech admitted that SH was a bad actor- even Feingold and Kennedy. In his speech, Kerry speaks of many things that should be done before considering attacking. His vote was wrong, but he was not then - or ever - calling for the invasion of Iraq.

[politicasista]

32. The Senator must feel like he has that vote

Sharpied on his face and/or written on his back cause this issue is brought up a lot. He was on the wrong side here, but people don't seem to forgive him for that. Not surprising.

[golfguru]

24. That is what they said about Iraq, Afghanistan, Germany, S. Korea,

Kosovo, Okinawa,........

And we STILL have troops in all of those.

In fact we have something like 800 military bases outside the country!
You would think we had lots of money in the US Treasury.

A nation with $14,000 BILLION in debt and $1500 BILLION Yearly budget deficits is
bankrupt by every common accounting practice. We are no longer a solvent
superpower. Our trade balance is worse than the next 10 largest economies
combined. China & Japan & UK are our new masters because they hold most of
our foreign debt.

[Runework]

25. too bad this guy is dead

The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic
Chalmers Johnson summarizes the intent of The Sorrows of Empire in the final chapter of Nemesis.

"The Sorrows of Empire was written during the American preparations for and launching of the invasions and occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq. I began to study our continuous military buildup since World War II and the 737 military bases we currently maintain in other people's countries. This empire of bases is the concrete manifestation of our global hegemony, and many of the blowback-inducing wars we have conducted had as their true purpose the sustaining and expanding of this network. We do not think of these overseas deployments as a form of empire; in fact, most Americans do not give them any thought at all until something truly shocking, such as the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, brings them to our attention. But the people living next door to these bases and dealing with the swaggering soldiers who brawl and sometimes rape their women certainly think of them as imperial enclaves, just as the people of ancient Iberia or nineteenth-century India knew that they were victims of foreign colonization."<8>
Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic
Chalmers Johnson summarizes the intent of the book Nemesis.

“In Nemesis, I have tried to present historical, political, economic, and philosophical evidence of where our current behavior is likely to lead. Specifically, I believe that to maintain our empire abroad requires resources and commitments that will inevitably undercut our domestic democracy and in the end produce a military dictatorship or its civilian equivalent. The founders of our nation understood this well and tried to create a form of government – a republic – that would prevent this from occurring. But the combination of huge standing armies, almost continuous wars, military Keynesianism, and ruinous military expenses have destroyed our republican structure in favor of an imperial presidency. We are on the cusp of losing our democracy for the sake of keeping our empire. Once a nation is started down that path, the dynamics that apply to all empires come into play – isolation, overstretch, the uniting of forces opposed to imperialism, and bankruptcy. Nemesis stalks our life as a free nation.”<8>

[ensho]

26. should we start a bet - I bet Kerry is wrong

our war Barons need to keep the money flowing into their pockets

Barons always win

unless their hearts are staked

[robcon]

30. Kerry is wrong on several counts.

1. It will take longer than Kerry assumes to achieve regime change ("Gaddafi must go" - the president)

2. There will be no obvious Libyan government group established... some military occupation of Libya will be necessary.

3. We and out allies will end up nation-building, assuming we achieve the regime change we are looking for.

[politicasista]

28. What did the Senator do DU today?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=720070


What did Obama do? :shrug:


:hide:

[politicasista]

31. Too late to edit. no concern noted. Peace n/t

[wisteria]

33. And, I hope this give the rebels a boost and some help. n/t