Kerry's big speech on National Security

I tried to listen, and my wife lasted a little bit longer, but it was hard

Here's a taste of Kerry's wisdom:

And that is precisely what this administration has ignored. They've looked to force before exhausting diplomacy; they bullied when they should have persuaded. They've gone it alone when they should have assembled a whole team. They have hoped for the best when they should have prepared for the worst. They've made America less safe than we should be in a dangerous world.

Anyone who followed the lead-up to resolution 1441 knows that the Bush administration got everyone on board. They got a unanimous UNSC resolution threatening Saddam with serious consequences if he did not comply with 1441 and all previous UNSC resolutions. Then the French reneged and threatened to veto Turkey's application for EU membership. Turkey blocked a US attack from the north of Iraq, and left the Sunni triangle without a decent taste of US miltary might. No amount of diplomacy could have gotten the French to countenance military action to back up UNSC resolution 1441. If Bush had taken Kerry's advice, offered in hindsight, they'd still be trying to "assemble the whole team".

Since 9/11 Al Qaeda has not attacked the U.S.. It has lost its base in Afghanistan and a likely ally in Saddam. Pakistan has been forced to choose sides, as has Saudi Arabia. The secret nuclear trade that was supplying nuclear weapons technology to terrorist regimes has been exposed and stopped. Libya has switched sides, apparently because its leader did not fancy being caught like Saddam. Thousands of Jihadists have been captured, killed or scared out of the business. The world is still a dangerous place, but it is lot less dangerous than it was on 9/10/2001. The only thing that could undo the work that the Bush administration has accomplished is to hand Iraq off to the U.N. and our European allies before the Iraqi people have control over their own fate. Then we'd have a failed state with oil wealth (courtesy of France and Russia) hosting Jihad International.

The transcript can be found here:NYT.

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