John Kerry Blames Powell For War Vote

In a pathetic attempt to redirect blame for his 2002 vote to authorize force in Iraq, Senator John Kerry blamed Colin Powell, then Secretary of State, for his decision.

In a phone interview with conservative talk show host Ken Pittman on WBSM Tuesday afternoon, Pittman asked Kerry (D-Boston) to explain how he at one time voted for the use of force in Iraq and then came to vehemently oppose the U.S. operation there. Kerry welcomed the opportunity.

“Absolutely, I’d be delighted to do that,” he said. “I spent a long time on the telephone with Colin Powell on the Sunday before the vote and Colin Powell assured me they were going to do all of the planning necessary, they were not going to rush to war. He assured me that they were going to do all the inspections and exhaust the remedies of the United Nations and finish the diplomacy.”

Kerry based his vote “largely on the conversations with Colin Powell,” believing that the administration would not rush into war. Kerry didn’t place all of the blame on Powell, however, saying that he too was given faulty information.

“In fact,” he said, “if you were to talk Colin Powell today or [then Deputy Secretary of State] Richard Armitage…they’ll tell you – they misled Colin Powell. And through him the rest of us were given evidence that never would have passed scrutiny.”

So Kerry and others were given evidence that would have never passes scrutiny…? Kerry continued his pointing the finger game.

“I spent a lot of time trying to understand precisely what the extent of that evidence was,” he said. “What has not been written about a lot is the due diligence that I did leading up to that vote. I went to the United Nations Security Council and I met with every single one of our Security Council ambassadors in a meeting. I am the only senator, I think, that took the time to do that. I spent two hours with them learning from them what their perceptions were from their countries about Saddam Hussein’s weaponry. They agreed that [Iraq] undoubtedly had weapons and that there needed to be some kind of inspection process put in place. And they believed that they needed more time to put that in place. Ultimately we were going have to hold them accountable.”

Kerry also said that he went to the Pentagon before the vote and looked at the intelligence photographs of buildings that were believed to house Hussein’s weapons programs.

It sounds like Senator Kerry did more than any other senator to scrutinize the evidence, and still voted to approve the use of force. So which is it senator? Did Colin Powell give you evidence that would not have passed your scrutiny, or did you not fully understand the evidence you reviewed yourself before voting to approve the use of force?

You can’t have it both ways. You can’t vote for something before voting against it, and you can’t blame Colin Powell for misleading you with evidence when you proudly admit that you “spent a lot of time trying to understand” the evidence yourself and did your “due diligence” before the vote. If that is your claim, you can only blame yourself for your vote.

Aaron Margolis is a life long resident of the Bay State, and works at an architectural firm north of Boston. Aaron has a Master of Architecture Degree from Boston Architectural College and is currently in the process of becoming of a Registered Architect.

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