Kennedy on the Iraq War Vote and the Politics of Hope vs. Fear

CNN LARRY KING LIVE
Interview With Edward Kennedy
Aired April 20, 2006

KENNEDY: Well, this is where I think as we're seeing Americans now are as I think they have been when given the two kind of options will go for the politics of hope and the possibilities.

I think individuals, I believe very deeply do best individually when they're challenged. Our country has always done best when it's been challenged, coming out of the depression, the Second World War we always have, Korean War. Let's go. We'll go to the moon.

We have always done best when challenged and when we are in this together. I think the country is prepared for that kind of challenge and change and I think it's waiting to do this.

In this book we've outlined some of the areas where I think we have to get it started I think. But this sense of hope and optimism is something that I believe in very deeply and I think that is the -- that is really the future. That's what the Democrats have to offer in this election.

KING: You called Iraq the overriding issue. You voted to go there or not?

KENNEDY: No. The best vote I cast in the United States Senate was...

KING: The best?

KENNEDY: The best vote, best vote I cast in the United States Senate (INAUDIBLE).

KING: In your life?

KENNEDY: Absolutely.

KING: Was not to go to Iraq?

KENNEDY: Yes, not to go to Iraq.

KING: Why did you vote against?

KENNEDY: Well, I'm on the Armed Services Committee and I was inclined to support the administration when we started the hearings in the Armed Services Committee. And, it was enormously interesting to me that those that had been -- that were in the armed forces that had served in combat were universally opposed to going.

I mean we had Wes Clark testify in opposition to going to war at that time. You had General Zinni. You had General (INAUDIBLE). You had General Nash. You had the series of different military officials, a number of whom had been involved in the Gulf I War, others involved in Kosovo and had distinguished records in Vietnam, battle-hardened combat military figures. And, virtually all of them said no, this is not going to work and they virtually identified...

KING: And that's what moved you?

KENNEDY: And that really was -- influenced me to the greatest degree. And the second point that influenced me was in the time that we were having the briefings and these were classified. They've been declassified now. Secretary Rumsfeld came up and said "There are weapons of mass destruction north, south, east and west of Baghdad." This was his testimony in the Armed Services Committee.

And at that time Senator Levin, who is an enormously gifted, talented member of the Armed Services Committee said, "Well, we're now providing this information to the inspectors aren't we?" This is just before the war. "Oh, yes, we're providing that." "But are they finding anything?" "No."

Because the answer was because they're moving things, because when we tell the team they're all infiltrated by Saddam's people and they're leaking that so that's the reason we're not finding anything.

They started giving all the places where we said there were places and they still couldn't find any. And at the end of now, history will show we never gave any information to the inspection team at all.

But I kept saying, "Well, if they're not finding any of the weapons of mass destruction, where is the imminent threat to the United States security?" It didn't make sense.

There were probably eight Senators on the Friday before the Thursday we voted on it. It got up to 23. I think if that had gone on another -- we had waited another ten days, I think you may have had a different story.

The sad aspect was that this administration, this president insisted that we have the vote prior to the election, prior to the election. What does that say to you that they wanted to have it so it was going to be used in the election, unlike his father that had the vote on the Gulf War after the election.

I thought that was an enormously interesting and powerful historical factor and I think that's why those that rushed us to war with inadequate intelligence, carefully selected and manipulated have real accountability in why they shouldn't be held accountable.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/20/lkl.01.html

on the WMD or lack thereof.

He was on the Armed Forces committee. So they gave him more information, and probably more lies, too.

Bush played the Congress shamelessly. Whatever the party or vote, everybody was scammed.

--p!

Via drafting the Levin Amendment, which would have forced Bush to actually find something in Iraq before he could declare war.

(FYI, Hillary voted to defeat that motion)

Hmm. I must look it up.

I guess I was concentrating so much on the Bush shenanigans that I wasn't keeping up with all this stuff.

war.

Smart decision that one. NOT.

I remember this now. I wasn't keeping track of what the amendments were named or anything.

The amendments said that if he wanted to declare war he would EITHER have to go to the UN and get approval OR go back to congress for another vote.

But, of course, the Republicans (and Dem senators who were afraid of looking weak) took that "UN approval" option and ran with it, completely ignoring the congress vote option.

This is a pretty good look at the situation from Lincoln Chafee (in case you haven't read it already)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/01/opinion/01chafee.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Sorry it took me so long to see your post.

read her comments on the matter.

So she deliberately left out the congressional approval part.

Interesting.

That speaks volumes.

Obama wasn't in the Senate for the first vote, but ever since he's been elected, he's voted the way Bush wants him to. I'm not saying Hillary Clinton hasn't - she has. What's the difference?

For crissakes, could you use any more inflammatory language?

Are you insinuating others that voted for funding for the troops were "voting with the Bush administration?"

Fact: Hillary and Edwards gave Junior a blank check which he promptly cashed while at the same time Obama was attending anti-war rallies decrying the imminent invasion.

That's the difference.