Flashback to the 2004 Election Cycle on Port Security: Kerry Was Right

[kerrygoddess]

Flashback to the 2004 Election Cycle on Port Security: Kerry Was Right
February 22nd, 2006 @ 2:20 pm

The DSCC released information about Republican Senators and port security earlier today, see my post here. There’s a lot of chatter in the blogosphere about this deal, on the left and the right. Ron pointed out in the comments below, that conservative blog was calling Democrats “newly security conscious.” However, that is certainly not the case…

On December 17, 2003 John Kerry unveiled a “Plan to Improve Port Security and Prevent Terrorists from Obtaining WMD’s.” In another Kerry was right moment, John Kerry said:

“In this dangerous world, we don’t know what that cargo really contains. And we can’t afford to continue being in the dark. We screen millions of shoes in airports everyday, but less than four percent of the 21,000 enormous shipping containers that arrive in America’s ports every day. Any one of them could have a biological, chemical, or nuclear weapon inside. We need to invest in and employ new technologies to screen the containers, ships, trains, and trucks that come into this country.”

How ironic, that Kerry saw the need to improve port security over two years ago, yet Bush has done nothing about it. Now in the wake of this UAE state-owned Dubai Port World deal to take over 6 major U.S. ports, it certainly seems as though port security is not really a concern of the Bush administration yet during the 2004 election cycle Bush consistently said it was. In October 2004, Bush was playing politics (as Digby pointed out) when he tried to paint Kerry as soft on National Security:

I will never hand over America’s security decisions to foreign leaders and international bodies that do not have America’s interests at heart.

MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=2028


P.S. Can someone post this around on Kos, etc... please...

[TayTay]

1. I heard Sen. Kerry talk about this repeatedly in that election

It was a signature issue for him. He talked about it extensively during the debates with Bush. He is certainly not 'newly conscious' of security issues. His views were just saner and more realistic than invading a foreign country in order to get 'security.' (Honestly, my point of view on this was that Kerry was sane and the Bushies were insane with their plans. They still are.)

Very nice post, btw. Dead, spot-on.

[kerrygoddess]

2. I did too

I remembered when he announced this plan, thankfully the old press release was available through a friend.

[wisteria]

3. He actually called my attention to this issue. n/t

[karynnj]

4. It was great that you were able toget it

as it is so completely relevant to the current situation. It's too bad that every Democrat isn't referencing the fact that Kerry raised this issue this constantly. (Their 2008 concern causes them to weaken their case.)

[ProSense]

5. Great point.

The media is making little snarky comments using words like "convenient for the Democrats" and, as you point out, "newly security conscious."

Kerry tried to pound this issue home.

[_dynamicdems]

6. He's ALWAYS right. Maybe some people can't stand that, but it's true.

Thanks for posting this. People have very short memories when it comes to John Kerry's record on the issues. They seem to prefer to remember Republican talking points and forget the Senator's actual positions.