Will Kerry really be able to salvage American reputation abroad?

In light of the infamous prison photos, do you think that Kerry, who supports Bush's war in Iraq and Bush's Israeli-Palestinian policies, will be able to salvage American reputation and protect us from the blowback that must be forming in the wake of the illegal war he voted for and the scandalous treatment of Iraqis by the US military, which Kerry was once a part of and is trying to capitalize upon?

Somewhere in the wilds of Pakistan-Afghanistan border, I hear Osama bin Laden and his buddies laughing like a pack of wild hyenas. Bush has done more damage to America in his 3+ years in office than all the mistakes made in the previous 100 years.

What I liked about Dean, that I don't see in Kerry, is that the Doc had the ability to manage through chaotic times and help the people he led to a better future. I don't see that ability in Kerry, who I think will be unprepared for the Chaos Bush will leave in his wake. I'm assuming, of course, that Bush will fail to steal the election this year.

The Muslim world views him personally as the one leading the assault on their culture

If we can pull a Jets over the Colts like upset and beat Bush in November, Kerry has MONUMENTAL problems to deal with: a huge deficit while shedding good jobs, an historically weak dollar and the likely rising interest rates to strengthen it and the subsequent housing market collapse; a reputation as a non apologetic bully, the environment being pissed away, public schools under attack, etc.

I'm actually starting to think that it is a conspiracy - "let's send in somebody so bad and incompetent(W) and fuck things up so much that the Democrat that wins in 2004 will spend his whole term accomplishing nothing more than putting his fingers in the dike... and, then we send in a really slick candidate in 2008 to begin to implement the true PNAC agenda..."

once we clear out the *cobwebs* in November, the world will breath a collective sigh of relief. Lots of work to do, but I think we can set it right again.

I would say that most people in Europe can see the distinction between the US administration and the US public.

If Kerry wants to make amends with France, Germany et al, it will not be hard for him. People would be so relieved that Bush isn't getting another term.

As for the other people Bush has pissed off, well we can only hope, but if Kerry really pushes for a negotiated solution for Israel/Palestine he could bring most of the middle east on side.

My opinion anyway.

or pressure him to be even-handed in regards to Israel-Palestine issue. I think that Bush has taught our allies to become more independent of the USA because who knows what leaders will be voted in or installed that could rum amok over the world.

Congress interns, etc. etc. being used to demonize him and hurt his reputation. So he would be talking like a victim to other victims.

i watch all channels all day on the news. only a few times in last handful of months have i heard Kerry talk, twice. a press convention and Westminster, that is it. i don't get to hear what Kerry thinks, his capacity to do this or that, i don't hear Kerry at all. cause the press doesn't put him on TV. cause we don't get to hear him talk. only that john O'Neil and other vets are pissed at him and have been pissed at him for three decades as they attack McCain too

so to say i don't see Kerry capable i say, how do you know. are you getting to hear him, cause i am not getting to hear him. and if i don't get to hear him, how can i say what he is capable of or not

with other world leaders. They LOVE Kerry and know he is committed to global health, labor and environmental concerns.

He also speaks 4 languages and his wife who speaks 5 languages worked at the UN as an interpreter.

All your hatefilled posts against Kerry cannot change the facts of his actual record and resume in this regard.

This post asks a legitamate question about Kerry's abilities as a leader.

or his lifetime of work in international arenas. THAT is why it is NOT legitimately questioning.

Your posts are ALL written to smear Kerry and there is no use denying your hatred for him as it is well documented.

Dean led through chaos...lol. What crisis in Vermont was one tenth as important as what we have now?

Dean = NO foreign policy experience

Edit to change crisis to chaos

governor, he inherited a state in fiscal chaos and he successfully got Vermont, a state with no manufacturing base, to become fiscally sound again.

Foreign policy experience is not a pre-requisite for being President. Sitting on a senate committee on foreign policy doesn't qualify one as an expert either. What is more important is a candidate's management ability, sound judgement, which Kerry lacks on major issues like war, and people relation skills.

Vermont Dems were furious with this, especially when Dean kept most of the GOP staff in place, as well.

People relation skills? Dean was too embarassed for his records to be seen by his fellow Democrats in Vermont because he was so cruel in his assessments of them. Of course, you all have forgiven him his centrist governance and his Zell Miller style barbs against progressive Dems there, but some of us have NOT forgotten as easily.

before the 2000 election. It's obvious that his work is not as groundbreaking as you imply. My Democratic co-workers in Mass are not impressed with Kerry, so why should I be.

I'm not denying that I despise Kerry, but that does not disqualify me from making posts about him or his positions.

and that the Kyoto Protocol was NOT groundbreaking.

Your despising Kerry unreasonably and your failure to accurately post events related to Kerry DO disqualify you as an honest broker of information concerning him.

http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=14047&intcategoryi..

I’m very sensitive to the push-back that came from overly aggressive presidents who tried to just advance the title” of a peace process, “without the substance,” Kerry told JTA. “There’s always been a feeling of concessions driven without a return on it. I will never voice a concession that somehow puts Israel’s judgment of its security at risk.”

The only president Kerry cited specifically was President Clinton. He praised Clinton for his efforts as an “honest broker” between Israelis and Palestinians, but acknowledged, “Some people, obviously there are a few people, who felt he pushed too hard.”

Clinton pressed Israel into offering unexpectedly broad concessions at the Camp David summit in 2000.

Kerry also said his belief in a multilateral approach to foreign affairs did not apply to Israel.

“The multilateral community has always been very difficult with respect to Israel, and we have always stood up against their efforts to isolate Israel,” he said.

Kerry said his criticism of what he calls the Bush administration’s unilateralism has to do with the administration of Iraq, environmental issues and containment of North Korea.

“None of that changes my record being wary” of “the way the U.N. has been used as a sort of battering ram with respect to Israel,” Kerry said.

Kerry reiterated his endorsement of Bush’s recent statement of support for Israel’s disengagement plan from the Palestinians in exchange for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s commitment to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and a portion of the West Bank.

“ ‘Right of return’ is a non-starter. We need to get a note of reality into these discussions,” Kerry said.

Likewise, refusing to recognize the permanence of some settlements is “disingenuous,” Kerry said.....

Kerry suggested that if Bush made mistakes, it had to do with how he framed the deal, which caught U.S. allies in Europe and the Middle East off guard.

“There might have been ways in which the administration might have done diplomacy around this in a more effective way,” he said.

Kerry said he would encourage America’s Arab allies to get more involved in developing alternatives to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat. He faulted the Bush administration for not seizing the moment immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, when Arab nations might have been more susceptible to suasion.

“There was an opportunity to perhaps take advantage of their sensitivity to being hauled over the front pages of every newspaper of the world when it happened,” he said. “There were some opportunities there to advance the accountability factor, the transparency factor, perhaps to get them to do a more overt effort to helping some kind of legitimate entity to emerge with which Israel could, in fact, negotiate.”......

Kerry said he pressed those issues with Arab leaders when he toured the region in January 2002.

If elected, Kerry said, his first step with regard to the Middle East would be to consult with Israeli and U.S. Jewish leaders.

“I’m not about to go off on some grand design. We’ve got to see where we are in terms of security, in terms of where is the government of Israel at that point in time,” Kerry said.

He also backed off an earlier commitment to send a presidential envoy to the region. The people he proposed — Clinton, President Carter or former Secretary of State James Baker — angered some supporters of Israel.

Kerry also agreed with the policy of isolating Arafat, whom Israel and the Bush administration accuse of ties to terrorism...

plea to stay in Iraq?

I think that Kerry will find Europe changed after Bush. They won't bow down to him and do want he wants. They will be more protective of their interests and suspicious of US intentions, regardless who is President.

And as far as the Middle East, since Kerry supports Bush's support of Ariel Sharon's plan and supported the Iraq War, I don't expect Kerry to win friends in the Middle East soon.

Kerry grew up in Germany and France and speaks the languages fluently. He understands the people and their concerns.

Why don't you take a lesson or two from Dean who supports Kerry on these issues.

I think he'll find Europe more feisty than he used to and more likely, he'll find out that they will be trying to herd him towards their views, than they will be coming around to his.

As far as Dean's support of Kerry, Dean is following a promise he made. I didn't make that promise. My 2nd choice for Prez after Dean was Bugs Bunny, which shows you the level of support I had for the Dem field this year.

I'm just an ordinary hardworking, taxpaying American who is disgusted with the poor quality of leadership in my country and in both parties. The Repukes are controlled by psychopaths and the Democrats by meadheads. Kerry, Gephardt, and Daschle represent to me the incarnation of the decay of the Democratic Party.

to stop making predictions

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=802700#810756

Keep up the good work.

that always turn out to be stupid

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=393417

Since asking that question, Kerry has broken fundraising records.

.

This is the way the neocons wanted it, let them deal with it. We should just run our own renegade government and ignore the Bush administration.
Back to the barter system.

This is obviously a post strictly about one of the candidates. You have admitted that you harbor a "rational hatred" of Kerry on another thread.

Stop polluting the GDF with this garbage.

You've got a simple choice.

Bush or Kerry.

We know Bush can't do anything right. You think Kerry might be swallowed by the wake of destruction Bush leaves behind.

What a dilemma! A known failure versus a potential failure. Hmmm. What to do, what to do.

Pining for your beloved Howard accomplishes nothing and slamming Kerry helps Bush.

I just refuse to blindly go along with the Kerry-herd and that annoys the Kerry shephers.

a good sign, methinks.

Most folks abroad do separate the US government from the American people. So Kerry shouldn't have much trouble especially if he renews and encourages people-to-people exchanges.

However, he's got a Herculean task of cleaning the Washington DC stables clean of the neo-con artists who have infested the place.
Fortunately, we could all help him by drawing up lists of them and where they work in the government.

:kick:

You mean like the way Dean managed to LOSE when he was attacked by the press?

and still manage to get most of Vermont's kids healthcare.

Your opening post implies that Kerry voted to torture prisoners..that Kerry voted with the full knowledge that all the info he received was false and that Kerry is a party beyond his vote to all the illegal activities covered up by Gearge Bush.

Why DU continues to let you post this CLEARLY dishonest partisan bullshit is beyond me.

:evilgrin:

did.

Karma is a b*tch, you know.

You can thank our karma when the door closes behind Bush's ass.

And send him out on tour.

but I fear it will be generations before another nation can actually trust us again. They know that any incoming Repuke/neocon regime will behave like fascists.

One person can do it. Bush said: "Who cares what other countries want. If they are not with us they are terrorists." Contrasted with Clinton's message which was: "Let's all try and find a way to get along." No brainer.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1531851&mesg_id=1542238&page=

Kerry is in lockstep with Bush on the Israeli Palestinian crisis. Much closer to Bush than Clinton.

that the problem isn't America per say, but this administration. I believe getting rid of Bush will do much to repair relationships with our European allies, but it will depend on Kerry's policies if the relationships continue to improve.

The French, in particular, have little patience for the American religious right. Can't help but think of the Meg Ryan, Kevin Kline movie "French Kiss," where the consierge calls America "a nation of puritanical hypocrites." That's how we are seen abroad. Here the supporters of this administration preach about family values and moral out one side of their mouths, while excusing the war atrocities of our soldiers as "frat pranks." Don't understand *why* other nations would hate us. Don't get it at all.

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republicans since 9/11, and have actually moved to the right of Clinton.

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1531851&mesg_id=1542238&page=