TCS: Tech Central Station – Hawks and the Presidency
An interesting take on Kerry, and how things would be if he were elected.
As an example, let’s say that tomorrow the CIA discovers that (say) Iran has made some nuclear weapons, or is going to in a few days/weeks/whatever. So, clearly we need to do something, right? We can’t let crazy people get nukes – I don’t think anyone can argue with that. So, Bush might take it to the UN and say “look, nukes! Help us invade!” And the UN would laugh at him, because he’s lost credibility with the UN and other nations (mostly in Europe).
Let’s take a second example – and say that Kerry’s been elected president, and shortly after that, we find the above scenario. Kerry goes to the UN and Europ & whatnot and says (or we hope he would say, I think he would) “look, nukes! Help us invade!” And because Kerry is “Not Bush”, they might just listen to him. And even if they DID laugh at him, I doubt he would say “oh, well if you’re not willing to help me then I won’t do anything.” But he will probably (hopefully!) take care to document his case very carefully, so that if he has to do something radical like invade another country, and people challenge him on it (probably after the fact), he can say “doubt me all you like, but the proof’s in the pudding guys.” And if he’s smart, his proof will be rock-solid (and not wishy-washy like some things Bush has held up as “proof”, i.e. WMD in Iraq).
But that’s just my interpretation. Read the article for yourself and make up your own mind!
-Keithius
