Zunes cites these specific Kerry votes and quotes in his March 1 essay:http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0301-01.htm<<SNIPS>>Back in October 2002, when Senator Kerry voted
, he ... declared that “Iraq has chemical and biological weapons” and even claimed that most elements of Iraq’s chemical and biological weapons programs were “larger and more advanced than they were before the Gulf War.” Furthermore, Kerry asserted that Iraq was “attempting to develop nuclear weapons,” backing up this accusation by claiming that “all U.S. intelligence experts agree” with such an assessment. He also alleged that “Iraq is developing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) capable of delivering chemical and biological warfare agents, which could threaten Iraq’s neighbors as well as American forces in the Persian Gulf.”
Senator Kerry and his supporters claim that he was fooled by exaggerated reports about Iraq’s military prowess from the administration. ... former chief UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter personally briefed Senator Kerry prior to his vote on how Iraq did not have any dangerous WMD capability; he also personally gave the senator – at his request – an article from the respected journal Arms Control Today making the case that Iraq had been qualitatively disarmed. Members of Senator Kerry’s staff have acknowledged that the senator had access to a number of credible reports challenging the administration’s tall tales regarding the alleged Iraqi threat.
During the summer of 2002, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings on Iraq’s alleged military threat which only invited witnesses who would argue that Iraq was somehow a danger to U.S. national security. Kerry – one of the senior Democrats on the committee – ignored thousands of phone calls and emails encouraging him to invite Ritter and other witnesses who would challenge those who were falsely insisting that Iraq had a dangerous stockpile of weapons of mass destruction.
When President Bush actually launched the invasion ... Kerry praised him, co-sponsoring a Senate resolution in which he declared that the invasion was “lawful and fully authorized by the Congress” and that he “commends and supports the efforts and leadership of the President . . . in the conflict with Iraq.”
<<END OF SNIPS>>
Much of what Zunes cites in this essay deals with the factual record. Is he in error, or is it possible for these quotes be taken out of context to the extent that it misrepresents Kerry's record?