Nader For President 2004 P.O. Box 18002 - Washington, DC 20036 - www.VoteNader.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For Further Information: August 10, 2004 Kevin Zeese 202-265-4000
Nader: Is there no end to Kerry's "Me-Too-ism" with Bush on Iraq?
Washington, D.C.: Independent Candidate Ralph Nader today criticized John Kerry for responding to "Bush bait" and saying he would still vote for the Iraq war knowing what he knows today. Nader asked: "Is there no end to John Kerry’s me-too-ism on the Iraq War?"
John Kerry and all Americans know today that we were misled by President Bush in order to justify the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. We now know:
1. There Were No Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is no longer in dispute: there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. According to David Kay, President Bush’s former chief weapons inspector, any weapons of mass destruction were destroyed after the Gulf War. After returning from Iraq, having led a large team of inspectors and spent nearly half a billion dollars, David Kay told the president: "We were wrong." (See: David Kay testimony before Senate Armed Services Committee, January 28, 2004.)
2. There Were No Ties Between Iraq and Al Qaeda. The 9/11 Commission review now indicates there were no ties between Iraq and Al Quaeda. Indeed, Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden were mortal enemies—one secular, the other fundamentalist.
3. Saddam Hussein Was Not a Threat to the United States. In fact, Hussein was a tottering dictator, with an antiquated command over an uncontrolled army, Kurdish enemies to the north, and Shiite adversaries to the South. Hussein could not even control the air space over most of Iraq.
4. Saddam Hussein Was Not a Threat to his Neighbors: In fact, Iraq was surrounded by countries with far superior military forces. Turkey, Iran, and Israel were all capable of obliterating any aggressive move by the weakened Iraqi dictator.
5. We Have Not Liberated the Iraqi People. The United States has merely installed a puppet government. We continue to have an occupying force of over 130,000 troops in Iraq and plann on building 14 military bases there. Our corporations are putting down roots in Iraq to ensure control of its natural resources, especially oil.
In response to President Bush’s demand for clarification of Senator Kerry’s position, Kerry said: "Yes, I would have voted for the authority." The authority to declare war is exclusively in the hands of Congress (Article I, Section 8) and cannot be delegated as the Congress did in October 2002.
"It becomes more difficult every day to know what John Kerry stands for. At the Democratic Convention he said he would not send troops to war unless absolutely necessary; now he says he would have authorized troops for Iraq, despite what we now know. Prior to the Convention, Kerry said he would keep troops in Iraq throughout his first term in the presidency; last week he said he would reduce them in the first six months—then his aides clarified his statement and said reduction was ‘a best case target,’" said Nader. "Why is Kerry letting George W. Bush off the hook and letting down the widening anti-war movement and like-minded citizens in the U.S.A.?"
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