Bill White – 10/12/04

This page was last updated on October 12, 2004.

General support for Kerry; Bill White; Beaver County Times; October 12, 2004.

This is the fourth anti-Bush letter from Mr. White since August 26, 2004.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“In a statement not seen in politics, quite possibly ever, the following have given their full support for John Kerry to be the next president of the United States.

“Lt. Gen. Edward D. Bacas, Lt. Gen. Daniel W. Christman, Gen. Wesley K. Clark, Adm. William J. Crowe, Vice. Adm. Lee F. Gunn, Gen. Joseph Hoar, Lt. Gen. Claudia L. Kennedy, Lt. Gen. Donald Kerrick, Gen. Merrill A McPeak, Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, Adm. Stansfield Turner and Gen. Johnnie E. Wilson.”

[RWC] Wow! 12 retired generals and admirals support Kerry! Big deal. You’ll note Gen. Tommy Franks (ret) is not on the list. Gen. Franks ran the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and he supports President Bush. Neither is Rear Adm. Roy Hoffman (ret), a commander of John Kerry during his four months in Vietnam. Neither are 250+ Swift boat veterans.

“Their basic premise is we didn’t go into Iraq as a last resort, the troop strength is inadequate, no exit plan was drawn up and the Pentagon civilians calling the shots are politically motivated.”

[RWC] They are entitled to their opinion but there’s nothing to indicate they are infallible. Some of these men were among those who claimed the “rush to Baghdad” at the beginning of the Iraq War would be disastrous. They were wrong. On nearly every significant issue, persons of good will can disagree. Remember, entering World War II wasn’t unanimous even after Pearl Harbor.

I don’t know much about the rest of the men on the list, but let’s look at Wesley Clark. The Clinton administration fired Clark from his position as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO in 1999. As recently as 2002, Clark couldn’t say enough good things about the Bush administration. Clark changed his position as soon as he decided to run for president. Here’s what Clark said about John Kerry on February 5, 2004. “The American people don't want another Washington insider who never plays it straight. They don't want a follower who makes decisions by licking his finger and sticking it up in the wind.” That’s some endorsement of John Kerry.

“With critical situations such as Iran, North Korea, Syria, Israel, and others coming to the forefront, do we want these same political hacks deciding our nation’s outcome?”

[RWC] With respect to North Korea, let’s remember who’s responsible for this situation. Led by President Clinton and Jimmy Carter, Democrats paid off North Korea to forgo its nuclear program and then let North Korea develop nuclear weapons anyway. They were the political hacks.

“A more intelligent, thought-out approach is needed and must be put in place.”

[RWC] In case Mr. White has missed it, Kerry’s current “plan” is nearly identical to what President Bush has been doing for over a year. Kerry merely claims he can do it “better,” but there’s nothing in his record to give this claim credibility.