John Kerry Breaks With Obama On Afghanistan, Calls For Fewer U.S. Troops On The Ground

[cal04]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/06/john-kerry-breaks-obama-afghanistan_n_819243.html

One of the Obama administration's key allies in Congress, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.), is breaking with the president on Afghanistan and saying the strategy in the war needs to be revised. The development, coming from someone who was once a strong backer of Obama's decision to increase troops in Afghanistan, could deal a significant blow to support for the administration.

"What I don't want is to be party to a policy that continues simply because it is there and in place," said Kerry in an interview with the Boston Globe about his evolving views on the war. "That would be like Vietnam. And that is what I am determined to try to prevent."

Kerry, according to the Globe, is calling for "a more limited focus and fewer American troops than the 155,000 that are in place now." In the coming months, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be holding a series of oversight hearings on the Obama administration's strategy.

"Obviously, I think progress has been made in military terms, but everybody agrees there is not a military solution," Kerry said. "What I worry about is whether or not the governance sufficiently to make a difference."


Kerry favors reduced US role in Afghanistan war
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2011/02/06/kerry_favors_reduced_us_role_in_afghanistan_war/

[Dennis Donovan]

1. "What I worry about is whether or not..."

"... the governance sufficiently to make a difference."

???:shrug:

Does this sound like he's thinking of running in 2012?:(

Recomended...

[MH1]

6. " the governance {improves} sufficiently to make a difference"

that was square brackets ... DU code hides anything in square brackets.

I seriously doubt that he would consider running in 2012. Don't know where you got that from. He is clearly talking about the governance of Afghanistan.

[Dennis Donovan]

10. Aaah!

That changes the meaning dramatically! Sounds like he's talking about Karzai.

[bluestateguy]

2. Sounds like a flip flop to me

He'd be President Kerry right now if he didn't switch positions so much, going from one complicated nuanced position to another complicated nuanced position.

[democrank]

5. I`ve never understood this anti flip-flop buisness.

Although my core beliefs are pretty much set in stone (anti death penalty)I have changed my mind from time to time when new information made me rethink an issue.

[lonestarnot]

13. Me either, unless there is back and forth on the fence crap. Looks stupid and in the wind.

[Mass]

7. Show me the flip-flop. This is exactly the position Kerry has been holding for about 2 years,

that he worries about Afghanistan and wants to withdraw the footprint as soon as possible.

It happens it is also president Obama's position, so my guess is that the Globe reporter is too busy trying to make waves.

[MH1]

8. He'd be President Kerry right now if he'd gotten 60,000 more votes in Ohio

i.e. if 60,000 voters weren't stupid/gullible/brainwashed enough to vote for Bush.

or if 60,000 non-voting liberals had gotten off their asses and voted for him.

If it had anything to do with perceived nuanced shifts in nuanced positions on genuinely complicated issues, wow is this democracy in a world of hurt. (Oh wait ... ... but what I said above still stands.)

[Raksha]

15. Correction: He'd be president if the Ohio vote hadn't been STOLEN,

thanks(?) to a lying pro-Bush secretary of state and rigged voting machines. Don't blame the Ohio liberals or Democrats, who also faced mysterious "shortages" of voting machines in Democratic majority districts.

[Thrustin]

3. I wish we weren't there, but I don't know what the best course of action is.

John Kerry seems like a straight up dude though.

[Mass]

4. Moronic reporters unable to go back and reread Kerry's positions.

Kerry has not changed. He has always said he worried about too many troops in Afghanistan. So has Biden and so has Obama,

[WilliamPitt]

9. Kerry is angling for the SecState job once SecState Clinton departs.

She has publicly said she's not committed past 2012...and that's assuming the office will still be in Democratic hands.

[ProSense]

11. No, he's not

John Kerry: Not Interested in Being Secretary of State

<...>

“I don't know what else we can do to stop the parlor game speculation about who's coming and who's going,” the statement began. “Lord knows we've knocked it down a thousand times over, and at a time of such challenge for American foreign policy the punditry is especially unwelcome and unhelpful.”

And there’s more.

“The one thing that hasn't changed one iota is that John Kerry loves his job as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and as the senior senator from Massachusetts,” the statement continued. “He worked a long time to get this job, and doing your job so well doesn't mean you're auditioning for another job.”

And, still more:

“So one last time: the only job John Kerry is contemplating, or considering, is the one job he already has, and he isn't looking elsewhere. Sometimes in politics, no really means no, and sometimes the best place to be really is the place you already are, end of story."

Got that? John Kerry is not auditioning to be Secretary of State. He is not lobbying for the job. He does not secretly covet the job. He is perfectly happy right where he is.

[politicasista]

25. **crickets**

Facts never get in the way of bashing.

[WilliamPitt]

27. How was that bashing?

[politicasista]

29. Lo siento mucho

Very sorry. No bashing there. :) :hide:

[WilliamPitt]

26. Just repeating what I've been reading in the Globe.

[Mass]

12. How is this relevant to his position on Afghanistan and whether or not he is breaking with Obama or

not on this?

[MoonRiver]

14. John Kerry should be in his second term now.

That would have been IF we had fair and honest elections in this country. :mad:

[former9thward]

16. We need to get out, not just fewer.

This is unwinable and always has been. We went in there to get rid of the Taliban from power. Fine we did that. Ever since then we have been nation building. Nation building does not work as far as the U.S. is concerned in Asia. Whether we should do it anywhere else may be debatable but for sure it does not work in Asia and never has for us. Out now!

[Disintermedia8]

17. Given Senator Kerry's senior position in the party

and his past record of accomplishment, I believe he should, at the very least, be thrown under a chartered, air conditioned coach.

[politicasista]

18. Doesn't matter. People from all sides aren't happy with what he said

Obama's supporters don't appreciate or respect him. Some in MA (not counting the DUK group) don't appreciate him. Seems like no does, but Obama himself seems to show more respect for him that most ever do or will. Flame away, it's all good.

[ProSense]

19. What are you talking about?

"Obama's supporters don't appreciate or respect him."

Kerry has supporters, and the vast majority of them are Obama supporters.


"Some in MA (not counting the DUK group) don't appreciate him."

He won re-election with 70 percent of the vote.

[politicasista]

20. delete

too offensive.

[ProSense]

21. People diss politicians all the time.

Nothing new or limited to a particular group of supporters.

[politicasista]

23. Ok

[JI7]

22. who cares ? they aren't all obama supporters

why do you get worked up over what a few people think or say and then try to make it as if ALL of them feel the same way.

[politicasista]

24. delete

Not getting worked up over nothing, just posting how I see it here and elsewhere

[Bluebear]

28. Oh OK then.