Pink Spider
02-16-2005, 08:47 AM
http://www.prisonplanet.com/Pages/Feb05/150205_Kerry_backs_Bush.html
Reuters | February 15 2005
Democratic Sen. John Kerry, whose baffling explanation of votes on Iraq war funding hurt his 2004 White House bid, said on Tuesday he would back President Bush's new $81.9 billion request for Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I think we're in a very different situation," Kerry told reporters. "I'm going to vote for this ... I think this money is important to our being successful and to the completion of the process."
The Massachusetts senator, who failed in his bid to unseat Bush last November in an election focused on national security, defended his decision to not back the president's previous request to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Mine was the right vote at the time and I wouldn't change it if we went back to that point in time because it was the right vote," Kerry said. "We didn't have a plan and they didn't spend the money correctly."
In October 2003, a year after voting to support the use of force in Iraq, Kerry voted against an $87 billion supplemental funding bill for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. He did support an unsuccessful alternative bill that funded the $87 billion by cutting some of Bush's tax cuts.
In March last year as the presidential campaign heated up, Kerry provided his Republican opponents with political ammunition when he sought to explain the move by saying: "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it."
"Should we have done a better job, could I have done a better job personally in fighting back on defining that?" Kerry asked. "The answer is yeah."
Kerry said the United States would have made better progress on Iraq, where an insurgency continues to rage almost two years after the March 2003 invasion, if he had been elected. He asserted the Bush administration was only now "trying some of the things" he proposed such as focusing on training Iraqi forces and getting other countries involved.
"I think my security proposals for the country were smack on, dead on," Kerry said.
Bush's request is expected to be approved by lawmakers despite concerns in the U.S. Congress about record federal budget deficits.
Reuters | February 15 2005
Democratic Sen. John Kerry, whose baffling explanation of votes on Iraq war funding hurt his 2004 White House bid, said on Tuesday he would back President Bush's new $81.9 billion request for Iraq and Afghanistan.
"I think we're in a very different situation," Kerry told reporters. "I'm going to vote for this ... I think this money is important to our being successful and to the completion of the process."
The Massachusetts senator, who failed in his bid to unseat Bush last November in an election focused on national security, defended his decision to not back the president's previous request to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Mine was the right vote at the time and I wouldn't change it if we went back to that point in time because it was the right vote," Kerry said. "We didn't have a plan and they didn't spend the money correctly."
In October 2003, a year after voting to support the use of force in Iraq, Kerry voted against an $87 billion supplemental funding bill for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. He did support an unsuccessful alternative bill that funded the $87 billion by cutting some of Bush's tax cuts.
In March last year as the presidential campaign heated up, Kerry provided his Republican opponents with political ammunition when he sought to explain the move by saying: "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it."
"Should we have done a better job, could I have done a better job personally in fighting back on defining that?" Kerry asked. "The answer is yeah."
Kerry said the United States would have made better progress on Iraq, where an insurgency continues to rage almost two years after the March 2003 invasion, if he had been elected. He asserted the Bush administration was only now "trying some of the things" he proposed such as focusing on training Iraqi forces and getting other countries involved.
"I think my security proposals for the country were smack on, dead on," Kerry said.
Bush's request is expected to be approved by lawmakers despite concerns in the U.S. Congress about record federal budget deficits.