"Legitimate voice???"

John Kerry and Moqtada al-Sadr political cartoon.

Apr. 8, 2004...

Kerry’s voices

Sen. John Kerry once again showed his inclination to place America in a weaker position. He has constantly inferred that his foreign policy would sublimate America’s interest to the French and Germans who have publicly stated as one of their goals the weakening of America’s influence. Now, in an interview with NPR, he said that the Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr -- who is leading a band of thugs against Americans and other Shiites -- has a legitimate point of view and his newspaper shouldn’t have been shut down. Kerry quickly back-tracked on his statements. You couldn’t say that it was a real flipflop.

This misstatement is indicative of Kerry’s post-Vietnam tendencies. There is a reason Kerry chose to become a Vietnam protester and key member of Veterans Against the War, an organization that plotted to kill U.S. Senators.

The misstatement is one that chooses the side of our enemies over America’s core values. It is a tendency of appeasement versus recognizing the evil that exists in the world and is against America’s interests.

Kerry continued to make political points on the new conflicts in Iraq.

"Where are the people with the flowers, throwing them in the streets, welcoming the American liberators the way Dick Cheney said they would be?" Kerry said in an interview with American Urban Radio Networks.

Later in the day Kerry questioned the provisional council that the Americans have been working with.

"Is he transferring it over to these people in the streets?" Kerry asked. "Is he transferring it over to Moqtada al-Sadr? Is he transferring it over to Ayatollah Sistani? Is he transferring it over to this group of people who make up the so-called provisional council who have no authority?"

On CNN Kerry said, "I'm not the president and I didn't create this mess, so I don't want to acknowledge a mistake that I haven't made… But let me tell you something, the president needs to step up and acknowledge that there are difficulties and that the world needs to be involved, and they need to reverse their policy."

Analysts propose that al-Sadr has tapped into a minority of Shiites who feel that it is their turn to rule Iraq and that they do not want to share or respect the minority rights of the Sunnis or the Kurdish.