I’m with Glenn Reynolds on this quote from John Kerry’s speech tonight,
I defended this country as a young man and I will defend it as President. Let there be no mistake: I will never hesitate to use force when it is required. Any attack will be met with a swift and certain response. I will never give any nation or international institution a veto over our national security. And I will build a stronger American military.
First, it’s interesting that Kerry now sees his service in Vietnam as defending the United States. So does he now see his anti-war efforts as undermining America’s efforts to defend itself? Does Kerry believe anything about Vietnam that isn’t politically expedient at the moment?
As for responding to attacks — the President of the United States has at his disposal the most powerful military in world history. Don’t tell me you’re going to use that power to respond to attacks — tell me you’re going to use it to prevent attacks in the first place, even if it pisses off the rest of the world.
Take a hypothetical — suppose a President Kerry has relatively strong evidence that Iran is funding a terrorist organization that is plotting attacks against the United States. I don’t want to hear that he’s going to talk to our allies and then talk to the terrorists,
We need a strong military and we need to lead strong alliances. And then, with confidence and determination, we will be able to tell the terrorists: You will lose and we will win. The future doesnÂ’t belong to fear; it belongs to freedom.
Even Jimmy Carter could have done that. What I want to hear is that he’d give the Iranians an ultimatum and then eliminate the threat using whatever means necessary.
We don’t need anymore Afghanistans, where we get rid of a despotic government after terrorists it harbors kill thousands of people.