Words of Wisdom

(The) President stood right here in this hall four years ago, and he was asked a question by somebody just like you, "Under what circumstances would you send people to war?' And his answer was with a viable exit strategy and only with enough forces to get the job done. He didn't do that. He broke that promise. We didn't have enough forces. General Shinseki, the Army chief of staff, told him he was going to need several hundred thousand, and guess what? They retired General Shinseki for telling him that.

...You rely on good military people to execute the military component of the strategy. But winning the peace is larger than just the military component. General Shinseki had the wisdom to say you're going to need several hundred thousand troops to win the peace. Military's job is to win the war. The president's job is to win the peace.

The president did not do what was necessary. Didn't bring in enough nations. Didn't deliver the help. Didn't close off the borders. Didn't even guard the ammo dumps. And now our kids are being killed with ammos right out of that dump.

--John Kerry, October 8, 2004