Can Kerry cut his great IRAQ answer to Diane Sawyer down to 2 minutes?

[papau]

DIANE SAWYER: Was the war in Iraq worth it?

JOHN KERRY: We should not have gone to war knowing the information that we know today.

DS: So it was not worth it.

JK: We should not — it depends on the outcome ultimately — and that depends on the leadership. And we need better leadership to get the job done successfully, but I would not have gone to war knowing that there was no imminent threat — there were no weapons of mass destruction — there was no connection of Al Qaeda — to Saddam Hussein! The president misled the American people — plain and simple. Bottom line.

DS: So if it turns out okay, it was worth it?

JK: No.

DS: But right now it wasn't < … ? … >--

JK: It was a mistake to do what he did, but we have to succeed now that we've done what he's — I mean look — we have to succeed. But was it worth — as you asked the question — $200 billion and taking the focus off of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda? That's the question. The test of the presidency was whether or not you should have gone to war to get rid of him. I think, had the inspectors continued, had we done other things — there were plenty of ways to keep the pressure on Saddam Hussein.

DS: But no way to get rid of him.

JK: Oh, sure there were. Oh, yes there were. Absolutely.

DS: So you're saying that today, even if Saddam Hussein were in power today it would be a better thing — you would prefer that . . .

JK: No, I would not prefer that. And Diane — don't twist here.

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voted for it before he voted against it

Again with DS

JK said "It just was a very inarticulate way of saying something, and I had one of those inarticulate moments late in the evening when I was dead tired in the primaries — and I didn't say something very clearly. But it reflects the truth of the position, which is — I fought to have the wealthiest people in America share the burden of paying for that war. It was a protest. Sometimes you have to stand up and be counted, and that's what I did."


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From a New York Times correction that will not be picked up by the right wing folks selling the story that Kerry is a traitor that undermined the US by on his own negotiating with both sides of the Vietnam War.:

http://www.nytimes.com/ref/pageoneplus/corrections.html:

"An article on Thursday about political advertising in the presidential campaign, including a commercial that accused John Kerry of having 'secretly met with the enemy' in Paris in the 1970's, misidentified the parties with whom Mr. Kerry said he had met at the Vietnam peace talks. (The error was repeated in articles on Friday and Saturday.) The parties were the two Communist delegations — North Vietnam and the Vietcong's Provisional Revolutionary Government — with whom he discussed the status of war prisoners. He did not say he had met with 'both sides.'"

[RafterMan]

1. Condensed

"Everyone knows you can't get something for nothing. Every action has a cost, and if the cost of removing Saddam Hussein was compromising our national security with a 200 billion dollar recruitment drive for Osama bin Laden, I call that a fool's bargain. President Bush's misguided policies have put our nation at greater risk."

That's less than two minutes.

[papau]

2. Excellent!

:-)