unanimous

This is one of the most revealing exchanges, both in terms of policy and personality:

> KERRY: Jim, the president just said something
> extraordinarily revealing and frankly very important in
> this debate. In answer to your question about Iraq and
> sending people into Iraq, he just said, "The enemy
> attacked us."

Kerry nails Bush on a subtle but damning distortion, specifically, that the war on Iraq was, at the time of the initial invasion, part of the “War on Terror”. The Bush campaign has been trying desperately to connect the two to bring legitimacy to the invasion of Iraq. Polls show that most Americans believe that Iraq had some connection to 9/11. So Kerry attempts to clear up that misconception:

> Saddam Hussein didn't attack us. Osama bin Laden
> attacked us. Al Qaida attacked us. And when we had
> Osama bin Laden cornered in the mountains of Tora Bora,
> 1,000 of his cohorts with him in those mountains. With
> the American military forces nearby and in the field,
> we didn't use the best trained troops in the world to
> go kill the world's number one criminal and terrorist.
>
> They outsourced the job to Afghan warlords, who only a
> week earlier had been on the other side fighting
> against us, neither of whom trusted each other.

When I heard this “outsourcing” message last week, I almost fell down. This really hits home.

> That's the enemy that attacked us. That's the enemy
> that was allowed to walk out of those mountains. That's
> the enemy that is now in 60 countries, with stronger
> recruits.
>
> He also said Saddam Hussein would have been stronger.
> That is just factually incorrect. Two-thirds of the
> country was a no-fly zone when we started this war. We
> would have had sanctions. We would have had the U.N.
> inspectors. Saddam Hussein would have been continually
> weakening.
>
> If the president had shown the patience to go through
> another round of resolution, to sit down with those
> leaders, say, "What do you need, what do you need now,
> how much more will it take to get you to join us?" we'd
> be in a stronger place today.

This is a crucial point for the Kerry campaign. Kerry gives the President an opening to explain. But does he take the opportunity to justify his position? Let’s find out...

>
> LEHRER: Thirty seconds.
>
> BUSH: First of all, of course I know Osama bin Laden
> attacked us. I know that.

Yea, I thought so. Just like the schoolyard bully and know-it-all that he is. He covers up this distortion by simply gainsaying his opponent. No explanation. I guess he doesn’t think we deserve one.

> And secondly, to think that another round of
> resolutions would have caused Saddam Hussein to disarm,
> disclose, is ludicrous, in my judgment. It just shows a
> significant difference of opinion.
>
> We tried diplomacy. We did our best. He was hoping to
> turn a blind eye. And, yes, he would have been stronger
> had we not dealt with him. He had the capability of
> making weapons, and he would have made weapons.

Hm. No, he didn't have the "capability". Maybe he once did, but the UN says he didn't have the capability during the run-up to the war, the State Department said he didn't have the capability, even Scott Ritter says he didn't have the capability.

Mr. Bush has never had any patience for diplomats. Maybe this is Oedipal resentment, I don't know.

Where's the beef? Read on:

>
> LEHRER: Thirty seconds, Senator.
>
> KERRY: Thirty-five to forty countries in the world had
> a greater capability of making weapons at the moment
> the president invaded than Saddam Hussein. And while
> he's been diverted, with 9 out of 10 active duty
> divisions of our Army, either going to Iraq, coming
> back from Iraq, or getting ready to go, North Korea's
> gotten nuclear weapons and the world is more dangerous.
> Iran is moving toward nuclear weapons and the world is
> more dangerous. Darfur has a genocide.
>
> The world is more dangerous. I'd have made a better
> choice.

Concise. Smart. Knowledgeable. And you know what... he’s RIGHT.

In a word, Presidential.

I predicted a split decision to Kerry. I think I was wrong. Unanimous decision. Round one to Kerry on points.

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