Friday, September 17, 2004
Is the Kerry campaign deliberately undermining the American war effort?
JOHN Kerry's campaign has warned Australians that the Howard Government's support for the US in Iraq has made them a bigger target for international terrorists.
Diana Kerry, younger sister of the Democrat presidential candidate, told The Weekend Australian that the Bali bombing and the recent attack on the Australian embassy in Jakarta clearly showed the danger to Australians had increased.
"Australia has kept faith with the US and we are endangering the Australians now by this wanton disregard for international law and multilateral channels," she said, referring to the invasion of Iraq.
Asked if she believed the terrorist threat to Australians was now greater because of the support for Republican George W. Bush, Ms Kerry said: "The most recent attack was on the Australian embassy in Jakarta -- I would have to say that."
Now, you can't hold John responsible for the random prattle of his sibling. After all, that standard would require us to hold this guy responsible for this guy, who traded on his relationship with the first guy to suck up to this guy.
But, we most certainly can hold Senator Kerry responsible for the fact that his dearest Diana is in charge of Overseas for Kerry. She has apparent -- if not actual -- authority to speak for the Kerry campaign overseas, and has exploited that status to encourage Australia to abandon the United States.
The Democrats have repeatedly attacked the Bush Administration for "abandoning our allies," and now the sister of their nominee, in an official capacity, is encouraging our allies to retaliate against us. TigerHawk tries not to lose his cool at campaign rhetoric, but this is the single stupidest statement to come out of the Kerry campaign this year.
Fix it now, Senator Kerry.
UPDATE (10 pm Saturday): Arthur Chrenkoff chimes in from Down Under.
UPDATE (6:30 pm Monday): Here's the link for Americans Overseas for Kerry. As you can see, Diana Kerry is the "chair" of that organization, and therefore an official spokesman for the campaign. That makes John Kerry responsible for her comments.
5 Comments:
By 
Bill Faith, at
Fri Sep 17, 10:14:00 PM:
Daddy always told me "If you can't say something nice just be quiet," so I'll put off saying anything more about Miss Kerry till my blood pressure drops a litte.
By 
, at
Sat Sep 18, 08:32:00 AM:
I don't have the time to search right now, but Tim Blair has documented pretty sufficiently that the Bali bombers consistently cited Australia's role in East Timor as a motivating factor.
Ms. Kerry should be ashamed.
Rob A.
(F?WF?)
By , at
Sat Sep 18, 04:18:00 PM:
This is beyond infuriating - this coming from the campaign of a person who claims to have superhuman powers of coalition building. If her brother won't do it, will someone please remind this clueless dizzball that we are at war.
Jim
Parkway Rest Stop
http://parkwayreststop.com
By Fred, at
Sat Sep 18, 07:34:00 PM:
I guess the flip side is "How do you belittle and criticize those who won't stand by us with the Iraqi War and expect to get their help on other issues later?"
I don't know that I completely agree with the young Ms Kerry, but it seems self-evident that if you are going to choose to fight a war on terror that you are therefore more subject to terrorists' attention.
By john marzan, at
Mon Sep 20, 01:23:00 AM:
It's possible Kerry and Latham's camp (which I suspect is coordinating with each other) have already made a deal, and it involves the announcement of an immediate troop pullout in October if Latham wins.
