Kerry Speaks at Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center in Waterloo, Iowa

---

John Kerry on stage in Waterloo on October 20.

---

When
Kerry took the stage, he acknowledged that he was honored to be at the
Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center, a hall named after the five
fighting Sullivan Brothers who died serving together in World War II.
“I am determined, having experienced that, to say thank you to the
troops in Afghanistan; thank you to the troops that serve our country
today. They are serving with great courage.” He did note, however, that
troops should “never be subjected to a back-door draft.”



Kerry:
“The choice of the future for the next four years is this. This
pResident made it clear that he can’t talk about most of the issues of
this election. He wants to make it solely about the war. I want to make
it clear that I will both fight for our country and for the middle
class.”



He
added, “We must fight and win two wars: Iraq and the war on terror. In
fact, the Iraq war was a profound diversion from Osama Bin Laden and Al
Qaeda. We are fighting two wars and we will prevail in both.”



Added
Kerry: “In Iraq, the pResident’s miscalculations have created a
terrorist haven that wasn’t there before…In Iraq, every week brings
fresh evidence that Bush doesn’t see what’s happening…isn’t leveling
with the American people about why we went to war in Iraq…how the war
is going…and that he has no idea how to put our policy back on track.”



Kerry then ticked off a few things that the country has learned in the past two weeks:



1)  
 Bush’s top weapons inspector in Iraq released a final, exhaustive
study with the damning conclusion that Saddam had no weapons of mass
destruction and had no programs to produce them.

2)  
 A CIA report found no clear link between Saddam’s regime and Abu
Musab al-Zarqawi, the terrorist behind [some of the violence] in Iraq
and now an al Qaeda ally. Before the war, Zarqawi was operating out of
a no-man’s land in northeastern Iraq, next to territory controlled by
America’s Kurdish allies, not by Saddam.  He and his terrorist
allies were reportedly producing Ricin, a horrific biological weapon.
“We could have…but did not…take them out.  That was a terrible
mistake that this Administration has never explained”.

3)  
 Paul Bremer, Bush’s man in Baghdad (and several other generals)
have said that the Administration did not send enough ground troops to
Iraq to manage the aftermath of the war.

4)  
 That failure made it impossible to stop widespread looting and
crime and to secure Iraq’s borders against terrorists. It made it
impossible to guard one million tons of ammunition and weapons that now
have wound up in the hands of insurgents, who are using them against
our troops.

5)  
 Because of the power vacuum after the defeat of Saddam’s
loyalists, Shi’a extremists and international terrorists, who were not
in Iraq before the war, have found a haven there now.

6)  
 Nine months ago, the top U.S. commander in Iraq pleaded with the
Pentagon for critical supplies to counter the growing insurgency,
including 36,000 sets of body armor and spare parts for tanks,
helicopters and fighting vehicles.

7)  
 “Against all evidence, he insists that things are going well in
Iraq.  You can’t just be always certain and frequently wrong. The
facts on the ground in Iraq are grim. Attacks are up 100%, to 87 daily.
Over 130 foreigners have been kidnapped. Just today, the female head of
CARE, Margaret Hassan, (who holds British, Irish and Iraqi citizenships
and is married to an Iraqi), was kidnapped. Added Kerry, “The
pResident, I think, is literally ‘in denial.’”



Hassan,
in her early sixties, had served CARE, the humanitarian organization
and the Iraqi people for over 30 years. She has lived in Baghdad for 30
years, helping supply medicines and other humanitarian aids and
speaking out about Iraqis’ suffering under international sanctions
during the 1990s. These attacks against humanitarian organizations have
led many to curtail operations and withdraw international staff.



Kerry:
“Chaos in Iraq is as bad for our neighbors as it is for us. Just
because George W. Bush can’t control the situation doesn’t mean that it
can’t be done. I will get it done.” He added, “All of us, as Americans,
are concerned about the outcome in Iraq. Now, we have a choice: more of
the same or a fresh start. And we are stronger when we build strong
alliances. This pResident makes it harder every single day. We need a
president who listens and is inclusive.”



Kerry
was clear that “allocated” (as used by “W” during speeches) does NOT
mean “spent”. “Only 8% of the money that Congress has allocated for
Iraq has been spent. Only 27 cents on the dollar trickles down to
re-build Iraq.” He said much goes to pay for price-gouging by firms
such as Halliburton. “This pResident isn’t willing to hold anyone
accountable, except the people who tell him what he wants to hear.”



Again
noting “W’s” speech comments, he stated: “Scheduled does not mean that
they have the ability to do it.” This was in reference to George W.
Bush’s comments about “scheduled” elections in Iraq. “King Abdullah of
Jordan says that elections are impossible with only 5 UN election
experts on the ground in Iraq, which is all that are there.”



Noting
that “This pResident has treated other countries with contempt,” Kerry
said, “I will allow other countries to be part of the bidding and to
help rebuild Iraq. The pResident won’t even try. They (the other
countries) do have a stake in the outcome.” He decisively stated, “I
will lead, and I believe that others will follow. The pResident says he
is a leader. Look behind you; there’s hardly anyone there.”



Quoting
Reagan’s comment that “Facts are stubborn things,” Kerry noted Bush’s
opposition to the 9/11 Commission and that he is dragging his feet,
right now, on implementing the Commission’s recommendations. He noted
that the new Bush budget provides for only 20% of the CIA’s needs under
these recommendations. “On George W. Bush’s watch, America is more
threatened than we were before.”



Kerry
commented that, while in the Senate, he wrote legislation against banks
that launder money for terrorists, and stated that he would crack down
on this practice. “According to the 9/11 Commission report (currently
up for the National Book Award as Best Book of the Year), this
administration delayed pressuring the Saudis to shut down so-called
charities that were, in fact, major sources of terrorist funding. They
even waited until last week to turn off the financial pipeline to the
terrorist the pResident so fervently denounces, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.”



Kerry
also stated that, since only 3% of the world’s oil reserves are in this
country, and 61% are in the Middle East, “We cannot drill our way out
of this crisis. We have to invent our way out of this crisis.” He noted
the $2 per gallon (and more) gasoline prices we are now experiencing
and said that at least $10 to $12, per barrel, of crude oil prices can
be attributed to the instability created by George W. Bush’s
administration and tactics in the Middle East and elsewhere.



Hitting
Bush once again on his determination to hold on to the tax cuts for the
wealthiest 1% of Americans, Kerry said, “I will change that.” But, he
added, “I will never put a price tag on America’s security. Period.”



In
closing, Kerry invoked Kristen Breitweiser, the WTC widow who appeared
with John Edwards during his Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds appearance
and was onstage again, applauding her courage in organizing the
families of the 9/11 World Trade Center bombing and saying, “I want a
world where no American mother should have to lie awake at night
worrying what tomorrow will bring…whether her husband will be safe at
work or her children will be safe at school the next day.  No one
should have to fear that students on a graduation trip to our nation’s
Capitol or to one of our great cities might be attacked. Our hope – our
determination – is nothing less than this: to live our lives confident
that we are safe at home and secure in our world. That is a great issue
in this campaign, and that is the great victory I will fight for as
your President.”