War. . .Huh! (good golly!). . .What Does it Tell Us?

Months ago, I quoted with approval several eerily similar suggested questions for Presidential candidates. The questions stemmed from one blogger's take on John Edwards' "Two Americas" campaign speech: "the biggest political division in America right now is the division between those who believe we are at war, and those who don't." Steven Den Beste's final list was both concise and precise:

1. Do you believe we are in a war?


2. If so, do you intend to win this war?


3. If yes, how do you intend to win this war?

Well, we now know Kerry's answers. I doubt they will surprise:

1. Yes and no. Kerry talks a big game about Iraq--his convention speech acknowledged "We are a nation at war." But he doesn't really mean it; foreign policy holds no particular attraction:

   On domestic issues, Kerry gave a "rock hard" pledge not to raise middle-class taxes if he becomes president, though he said a national emergency or war could change that.
   
   Reminded that the country is at war already, Kerry said, "We're going to reduce the burden in this war, and if we do what we need to do for our economy, we're going to grow the tax base of our country.

   "Reminded that the country is at war already"? As Instapundit says, "I wish the Democrats had nominated a guy who didn't need to be reminded."



2. By free choice. He insists that, under his leadership, America will "only go to war because we have to." But that's a false dichotomy. Under President Clinton, America intervened in Haiti, Bosnia and Kosovo by choice, not because we "had to." Whereupon our military saved innocent lives. This "Kerry doctrine" reflects his confusion about the role of force in general, and military tactics in particular. It also kin to the sort of blather peddled by Hollywood's "idiot famous" such as Cheryl Crow--who famously declared, at the 2003 Grammy Awards, that "war is never the answer to solving any problems. The best way to solve problems is to not have enemies." Tell that to black Africans in the south of Sudan today; Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s; Czechs and Poles in the 1930s; or European Jews in the 1940s. Innocent victims don't have the luxury of choosing, much less avoiding, enemies.



3. Shhhhh--it's a secret! Senator Kerry says he's got a plan. But even his most fervent supporters aren't allowed into the tree-house: "'I can't give you the details of any deal, obviously,' Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said Monday." This is deja vu, 1968 style:

   [W]hen questioned about saying Thursday in his acceptance speech, 'I know what we have to do in Iraq,' he would not tip his hand. Reminded that he sounded like Richard M. Nixon, who campaigned in 1968 by saying he had a secret plan to end the war in Vietnam, Kerry responded: 'I don't care what it sounds like.'

I have no doubt Kerry doesn't care. All the more reason we should.