Monday, September 27, 2004
A Standing Challenge
I have, several time, issued a challenge in various comment threads to Kerry supporters (without answer) and have decided to make this a challenge that will remain open until the election. Sen. Kerry often speaks against the President's unilateralism and offers that he will bring more allies into our efforts and relieve the burden on U.S. troops. If you are a Kerry supporter and believe this, please answer the following:
I ask this question because I can not logically conclude that Kerry can accomplish what he proposes. First, the effort is far from unilateral, in that the U.S. is already joined with England, Australia, Japan, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, ROK and many others, so who of consequence is left? France has already said they have no interest in Iraq, regardless of who wins. Given Germany's Constitution, are they likely to provide forces, especially the combat forces that Sen. Kerry seems to be referring to. Does he expect Russia or China to come on board? Russia is already providing intelligence support, but I suspect issues in Chechnya may already be taxing whatever deployable military capability they have. As for China, the only international party they've come to since Mao's revolution was the Korean War, and they were on the wrong side then. In fact, the most specific Kerry has ever been on this issue was to mention Turkey (who Iraq specifically does not want involved) and a generalization about Iraq's "neighbors" (you know, the countries providing manpower and funding for the insurgency). This is no gotcha, I seriously don't understand how anyone can square the Senator's "promises" with reality in any logical fashion.
| Which countries, specifically, that are not already engaged in Iraq with us do you anticipate bringing on board? |
I ask this question because I can not logically conclude that Kerry can accomplish what he proposes. First, the effort is far from unilateral, in that the U.S. is already joined with England, Australia, Japan, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, ROK and many others, so who of consequence is left? France has already said they have no interest in Iraq, regardless of who wins. Given Germany's Constitution, are they likely to provide forces, especially the combat forces that Sen. Kerry seems to be referring to. Does he expect Russia or China to come on board? Russia is already providing intelligence support, but I suspect issues in Chechnya may already be taxing whatever deployable military capability they have. As for China, the only international party they've come to since Mao's revolution was the Korean War, and they were on the wrong side then. In fact, the most specific Kerry has ever been on this issue was to mention Turkey (who Iraq specifically does not want involved) and a generalization about Iraq's "neighbors" (you know, the countries providing manpower and funding for the insurgency). This is no gotcha, I seriously don't understand how anyone can square the Senator's "promises" with reality in any logical fashion.
