There are increasing signs that Senator Kerry is starting to “get it.”
Glenn Reynolds noted Kerry’s statement that failure is “not an option” in Iraq.
And in a speech yesterday in Philadelphia, Kerry hinted that he might be re-thinking some of his earlier statements about Vietnam:
Thirty-five years ago, on a boat, in the Mekong Delta, I grew up with a band of brothers from all walks of life and every corner of America. We learned many things on that journey, but above all, we learned that we were never the kid from South Carolina, Iowa, Arkansas, California, or the kid from Massachusetts. Under the heat of fire and the fog of battle, our mission became crystal clear and color, religion, and background melted away to an understanding that we were all simply “Americans.” All of us fighting under the same flag, praying to the same God.
When I read that, I was a bit surprised, because, while John Kerry has been quoted extensively about the Vietnam War, describing the mission as “clear” never really stood out.
Of course, the New York Times used the term “clear mission” in the context of an exit strategy in the Iraq War.
Not that there isn’t a precedent for that.
It was called Vietnamization, and while the mission may have been clear enough, there were plenty of comments like this:
No one wants to be the last man to die for a mistake.
Echoes of another speech in Philadelphia, 1971?
UPDATE: While the Inquirer did a good job of reporting Kerry’s speech in Philadelphia yesterday, I noticed that there was nothing about the walkout by Senators Bob Kerrey and Lee Hamilton during the 9-11 Commission’s meeting with Bush and Cheney, even though Bob Kerrey was called “one of the panel’s most aggressive questioners.” (Note, however, that the walkout is mentioned in an Inquirer-unpublished Knight-Ridder link by the same writers.)
Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to fault the Inky for parroting the New York Times.
Parrots don’t always talk!