John Kerry

File:Https://www.state.gov/img/13/52384/Kerry head shot 404 1.jpg

John Kerry official Secretary of State portrait

On the Iraq War

Iraq Had WMDs

"Why is Saddam Hussein attempting to develop nuclear weapons when most nations don’t even try? ... According to intelligence, Iraq has chemical and biological weapons ... Iraq is developing unmanned aerial vehicles capable of delivering chemical and biological warfare agents ...”

"When I vote to give the President of the United States the authority to use force, if necessary, to disarm Saddam Hussein, it is because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a threat, and a grave threat, to our security and that of our allies in the Persian Gulf region. I will vote yes because I believe it is the best way to hold Saddam Hussein accountable."(10/9/2002, Congressional Record, V. 148, Pt. 14, October 2, 2002 to October 9, 2002, P. 19701) [1]

"The threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real, but as I said, it is not new. It has been with us since the end of that war, and particularly in the last 4 years we know after Operation Desert Fox failed to force him to reaccept them, that he has continued to build those weapons. ...According to intelligence, Iraq has chemical and biological weapons as well as missiles with ranges in excess of the 150 kilometer restriction imposed by the United Nations in the ceasefire resolution."(10/9/2002, Iraq Speech in Congress Iraq War Vote) [2]

"I didn’t vote for the Iraq war. I voted to give the president authority that he misused and abused. And from the moment he used it, I opposed that.’" (2011) [[3]]

However, in 2003, Kerry was quoted as saying "I fear that in the run-up to the 2004 election the administration is considering what is tantamount to a cut-and-run strategy." [[4]]

In 2013, Kerry claimed that he and then Senator Chuch Hagel "opposed the President's decision to go into Iraq," even though both voted to give Bush authorization to use force in the country. "You know, "Senator Chuck Hagel, when he was senator, Senator Chuck Hagel, now secretary of defense, and when I was a senator, we opposed the president’s decision to go into Iraq, but we know full well how that evidence was used to persuade all of us that authority ought to be given." [[5]]

While Kerry expressed qualms in the early days of the war about the lack of diplomatic effort put forth by the Bush Administration, he believed the claim that Iraq had WMD's and thought Saddam Hussein should be overthrown. A CNN article from 2004 states: "Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry said Monday he would not have changed his vote to authorize the war against Iraq, but said he would have handled things "very differently" from President Bush." [[6]]

He also stated in a 2003 interview "I would have preferred if we had given diplomacy a greater opportunity, but I think it was the right decision to disarm Saddam Hussein, and when the president made the decision, I supported him, and I support the fact that we did disarm him." [[7]]

"When he was a senator, Chuck Hagel, and when I was a senator, we opposed the president's decision to go into Iraq but we know full well how that evidence was used to persuade all of us that authority ought to be given." [8]

Vote on authorization of force in Iraq

Kerry voted yes on the authorization of the use of force in Iraq. [[9]]