Excerpts of Interest
KERRY: I’ve asked in my security briefings why that is, and I can’t go into all the answers, et cetera, but let me say this to you.
This president and his administration have told you and all of us it’s not a question of when, it’s a question of — excuse me — not a question of if, it’s a question of when. We’ve been told that.
The when I can’t tell you. Between the World Trade Center bombing in, what was it, 1993 or so, and the next time was five years, seven years. These people wait. They’ll plan. They plot.
I agree with the president that we have to go after them and get them wherever they are. I just think I can do that far more effectively, because the most important weapon in doing that is intelligence. You’ve got to have the best intelligence in the world. […]
GIBSON: I want to extend for a minute, Senator. And I’m curious about something you said. You said, “It’s not when, but if.” You think it’s inevitable because the sense of security is a very basic thing with everybody in this country worried about their kids.
KERRY: Well, the president and his experts have told America that it’s not a question of if; it’s a question of when. And I accept what the president has said. These terrorists are serious, they’re deadly, and they know nothing except trying to kill.
I understand that. That’s why I will never stop at anything to hunt down and kill the terrorists.
But you heard the president just say to you that we’ve added money.
Folks, the test is not if you’ve added money; the test is that you’ve done everything possible to make America secure. He chose a tax cut for wealthy Americans over the things that I listed to you.
NY Times Magazine, October 10, 2004
Kerry: “We have to get back to the place we were, where terrorists are not the focus of our lives, but they’re a nuisance. As a former law enforcement person, I know we’re never going to end prostitution. We’re never going to end illegal gambling. But we’re going to reduce it, organized crime, to a level where it isn’t on the rise. It isn’t threatening people’s lives every day, and fundamentally, it’s something that you continue to fight, but it’s not threatening the fabric of your life.”
Bush: “They’ve seen me make decisions, they’ve seen me under trying times, they’ve seen me weep, they’ve seen me laugh, they’ve seen me hug,”
George W Bush: When asked “Can we win?” the war on terror, Bush said, “I don’t think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that the — those who use terror as a tool are — less acceptable in parts of the world.”
(Later had to redefine the terms so that he could obliterate that damned “nuance” — the great enemy of human civilization — and “Be a He-Man”)
Some of it leaves me a little woozy.
(See also Mixed Signals