Senate Democrats forced an all-night debate on the Iraq War last night, hoping that forcing Republicans to go on the record would push them to support an Iraq policy that makes sense. At about 5:40 this morning, John Kerry delivered a powerful speech debunking the fallacies on which arguments for the war rely -- such as the belief that Al Qaeda would be empowered by our leaving Iraq, when the truth is that it is our presence there that is helping Al Qaeda to gain a firmer foothold --, illuminating the issues that underlie the ethnic strife and setting out a sensible way forward in Iraq. We at KerryVision are pleased to be able to present this speech in its entirety.
Quite clear.
The vote failed 52-47, short of 60 votes needed for passage. Senator Kerry has advocated a deadline for troop redeployment since last June, when he introduced legislation with Senator Feingold to set a firm date to bring American troops home. JK made the following statement today after the debate concluded on the Levin-Reed-Kerry amendment to set a deadline for troop redeployment from Iraq.
"Today a few Republican Senators chose to stand with their President over voting for a policy for our troops that honors their service and sacrifice," Senator Kerry said. "How much longer will some in this Congress fail to vote their conscience and do what’s right to bring about change in Iraq? No number of Republican filibusters and politically motivated votes change this fact: without real deadlines to force Iraqis to compromise, they will not compromise. No American soldier should die for Iraqi unwillingness to solve their differences. Again a majority in Congress has spoken, and we will not rest until we have a policy that sets a deadline to bring our troops home."
There were some in the blogging community who stayed up to watch the tall guy speak.
One of the bloggers at the DCP said
Absolutely NOTHING nuanced about this Kerry debate!!!!!
The Blue State blog had this summary of JK's speech.
John Kerry takes the floorIt's going on 6 AM ET/3 AM PT, and I'm getting tired. But I should note that former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry has just taken the floor following the 5 AM vote. Even though it's still early, he is full of energy.
Here are some John Kerry excerpts from the speech he is giving at this moment:
- "It's easier for al Qaeda to play off" Sunni vs Shia rift than it would be had the US not invaded. -
- "The 'here' is broadening all around the world" -- Kerry said when responding to the Bush argument that we need to fight the terrorists over there so we don't fight them here.
- President Bush "went on the longest vacation in history" in the month before September 11th.
- "This is not an Administration that has been correct conceivably about anything."
- "Not one expectation has been met. Not one basic political transformation.."
- This bill "is also profoundly about the troops."
- "They (troops) deserve missions that make sense."
- "If you don't learn lessons of history ...you are doomed to repeat mistakes that you made."
- "The mission itself I think is as flawed as the mission a few years ago."Amen!
The people over at DailyKos live-blogged the whole thing including JK's part. The live-blogging on his speech is in this diary. Magnifico had 3 excellent summary posts here, here and here. Sen. Inhofe interupted JK and AmericanRiverCanyon had a good summary of JK's response and the way he deflected the intended derailment and kept on going.
He (She?) ended the comment with this:
Kerry. So Coherent. So Clear.
What more can we say?
Comments (6)
Posted by Otter | July 18, 2007 3:29 PM
Excellent! Thanks for posting the whole Kerry segment of the all-night pajama party and democracy fest here on KVT, I haven't been able to to find video or a transcript of it anywhere else yet. You guys rock!
Posted by beachmom | July 18, 2007 5:32 PM
Thanks for the video and links. I can't overemphasize how wonderful this site is. Thanks so much!
Posted by GV | July 18, 2007 6:40 PM
Excellent. Thank you.
I missed this floor speech this morning.
JK-
What are you going to say to the families, "Gee, we were waiting for a report?"
He's getting fired up now. Calling Republicans on their bull. Just excellent.
How some of these Republican Senators go home and face their constituents is beyond me.
Tell the truth to the American people!
Posted by Kerryvisionary | July 18, 2007 8:40 PM
Not close enough yet to save the lives we're losing, but getting ever closer, and JK has MUCH to do with that. I missed the speech this morning and pre-KerryVision, that would be that. But now I can actually tell everyone I know to come to this post and watch this speech. This is the bare, unvarnished truth about what we've done and what we're in for if this administration doesn't wise up and change course!
Thank you for bringing this speech to us, along with the other info in this post. Love seeing the Senator get some acknowledgement on Kos and other blogs!
Posted by BlueWashington | July 20, 2007 12:19 AM
I just ran across your site. It's great!!
Posted by nixau | July 23, 2007 9:27 AM
How did this guy loose to Bush? This is the most incisive analysis of Iraq ever delivered. He speaks for 45 minutes barely looking at his notes and shows that he understands the Iraq situation better than anybody. When he speaks about Iraqis returning to the "currency of daily life" after American troops leave an area, he underscores how intractable the situation is when Americans are in the middle of a civil war. Please run again, John Kerry. America needs a smart President for a change.