At 10:58 PM 5/1/2005 -0500, Dan M. wrote: >Kerry explictly stated that he did not agree with
You got cut off here. >How about this; show me a quote that from Kerry stating that UN approval is >required for US military action, and I'll concede the point. I'll >seriously consider any that indicates that that is Kerry's position. O.k., here is the famous Kerry quote: "No president, though all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to preempt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America. But if and when you do it, Jim, you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons." The problem with the above quote is that it is self-contradictory. Either the US has an unlimited and unfettered right to pre-empt *or* the US must pass a "global test" before pre-empting. Given that Kerry was running for office, I think it is reasonable to assume that the first part of the above quote was merely a disclaimer to try and make his real position as palatable as possible - namely that Kerry, as President, would require some level of international approval before pre-empting. Again, Kerry would retain "the right" to pre-empt in any case, but that he would not actually do so if he did not pass some sort of "global test." The practical effect of that would be to require UN approval *de facto*, if not explicitly *de jure* in a Kerry Presidency. JDG _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
