1998: Kerry calls for ground troops to topple Saddam; Clinton not tough enough
The Boston Globe | February 23, 1998 | Aaron Zitner, Globe Staff
WASHINGTON -- Senator John F. Kerry, who began his public life as a Vietnam War protester, said yesterday that the United States should use ground troops to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein if he does not comply with international demands to give up chemical and biological weapons.
Kerry, a potential presidential candidate in 2000, said sending US troops into Iraq should be "the last option, but it is a legitimate option."
The state's junior senator said President Clinton had not been tough enough in his measures to subdue the Iraqi president.
Because Iraq will try to rebuild its chemical and biological weaponry after a US air attack, "we will not eliminate the problem for ourselves or for the rest of the world with a bombing attack," Kerry said.
Kerry said his conditional support for using ground troops put him "way ahead of the commander in chief, and I'm probably way ahead of my colleagues, and certainly of much of the country. But I believe this."
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Woops...Pardon me! This was in 1998 when Kerry was for the war and after then against the war then for the war...gee what a man of conviction. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
The Boston Globe | February 23, 1998 | Aaron Zitner, Globe Staff
WASHINGTON -- Senator John F. Kerry, who began his public life as a Vietnam War protester, said yesterday that the United States should use ground troops to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein if he does not comply with international demands to give up chemical and biological weapons.
Kerry, a potential presidential candidate in 2000, said sending US troops into Iraq should be "the last option, but it is a legitimate option."
The state's junior senator said President Clinton had not been tough enough in his measures to subdue the Iraqi president.
Because Iraq will try to rebuild its chemical and biological weaponry after a US air attack, "we will not eliminate the problem for ourselves or for the rest of the world with a bombing attack," Kerry said.
Kerry said his conditional support for using ground troops put him "way ahead of the commander in chief, and I'm probably way ahead of my colleagues, and certainly of much of the country. But I believe this."
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Woops...Pardon me! This was in 1998 when Kerry was for the war and after then against the war then for the war...gee what a man of conviction. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
