Reply #251: Then let's see some answers to the charges against Kerry... [View All]

...if they are so "laughably weak." For starters, let's take his shifting positions on the need for Intel. In the late 90's he supported cutting Intelligence funding, but after 9/11, he complained that Intelligence was weak:

1995: Proposed Bill Cutting $1.5 Billion From Intelligence Budget. Kerry introduced a bill that would “reduce the Intelligence budget by $300 million in each of fiscal years 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000.” There were no cosponsors of Kerry’s bill, which never made it to the floor for a vote. (S. 1290, Introduced 9/29/95)

1995: Voted To Slash FBI Funding By $80 Million. (H.R. 2076, CQ Vote #480: Adopted 49-41: R 9-40; D 40-1, 9/29/95, Kerry Voted Yea)

1997: Kerry Questioned Growth Of Intelligence Community After Cold War. “Now that that struggle is over, why is it that our vast intelligence apparatus continues to grow even as Government resources for new and essential priorities fall far short of what is necessary? …” (Senator John Kerry Agreeing That Critic's Concerns Be Addressed, Congressional Record, 5/1/97, p. S3891)

***BUT***

2003: Candidate Kerry Says “We Have A Serious Problem” With Intelligence. “I believe there are enormous questions still about the overall intelligence given to the congress, the quality of that intelligence … If we don't know the answer about our intelligence, if we do not know what our intelligence community is telling us and whether or not it is broadly true, we have a serious problem.” (CNN’s “Late Edition,” 7/13/03)

12 Days After 9/11: Kerry Questioned Quality Of Intelligence. “And the tragedy is, at the moment, that the single most important weapon for the United States of America is intelligence. … And we are weakest, frankly, in that particular area. So it’s going to take us time to be able to build up here to do this properly.” (CBS’s “Face The Nation,” 9/23/01)