www.washtimes.com/national/20040312-120719-7926r.htm
Kerry fails to back up foreign endorsements By Charles Hurt and Stephen Dinan THE WASHINGTON TIMES Sen. John Kerry refuses to provide any information to support his assertion earlier this week that he has met with foreign leaders who beseeched him to prevail over President Bush in Novembers election. The Massachusetts Democrat has made no official foreign trips since the start of last year, according to Senate records and his own published schedules. Kerrys travel schedule domestically revealed only one opportunity for the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee to meet with foreign leaders here. Kerry told reporters in Florida that hed met with foreign leaders who privately endorsed him. Ive met with foreign leaders who cant go out and say this publicly, he said. Kerry have said providing names of the leaders or their countries would injure those nations ongoing relations with the current Bush administration. In terms of who hes talked to, were not going to discuss that, spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said yesterday. Kerry has made other claims during the campaign and then refused to back them up, including statements that Mr. Bush delayed the deal with Libya to give up its weapons of mass destruction program for political reasons. Kerry the international man of mystery, and said his statements go even beyond those of former Vice President Al Gore, who was besieged by stories that he lied or exaggerated throughout the 2000 presidential campaign. The results of this week, I think hes going to have a very serious credibility problem with the American people, said Rep. Deborah Pryce, Ohio Republican and chairman of the House Republican Conference. Kerry met with foreign leaders and discussed his presidential campaign, which officially began Sept.
In a February meeting with the editorial board from the New York Daily News, Mr. Bush, for political reasons, delayed closing the deal to have Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi surrender his weapons of mass destruction program. Theres evidence that we could have had that deal some time ago, Mr. Kerry told the newspaper, saying he had heard from friends in the British government that the deal was in a slow lock. Kerry called for an investigation into whether the United States overthrew Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, telling NBCs Today show a very close friend in Massachusetts had talked with people who had made accusations that Mr. But I think it needs to be explored, and we need to know the truth of what happened, Mr. Kerrys remarks remind them of former Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark, who said and later recanted that he knew of a secret Pentagon memo listing the next countries after Iraq to be attacked in the war on terror.
George Allen, Virginia Republican and third-highest ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said such a political conversation occurring between a United States senator and the leader of a foreign country is hard to imagine. Several foreign leaders denied having any such conversations with Mr. And Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told Australian radio this week that the remarks certainly didnt come from Australian leaders. He said its not right either for leaders to make those comments or for a candidate to make them public. I think its probably better to keep foreign leaders and the views of foreign leaders out of domestic elections, I mean, certainly we do that here in this country. I mean, people express different views to you, if youre a candidate, I tend not to pass on those kinds of views publicly, he said. Kerrys comments are true, several Republicans said, its hardly something to brag about. Kerry after European newspapers reported that North Korea leader Kim Jong-il would prefer that Mr. Bush and hawkish officials in his administration, Pyongyang seems to hope victory for the Democratic candidate on November 2 would lead to a softening in United States policy towards the countrys nuclear-weapons program according to Londons Financial Times, which said that Mr. Kerrys speeches are being broadcast on Radio Pyongyang and reported in glowing terms. The mullahs in Iran probably dont care to have Bush in there because he wont suffer terrorists or the countrys that harbor them, said Mr. I want a president who cares about whats right rather than the United States protocols. And a poll taken by Andres McKenna Polling and Research found that Americans overwhelmingly believe the terrorists would prefer Mr. The poll of 800 registered voters, taken in February, showed 60 percent thought terrorists would be happier with Mr. The story here is the good will squandered by the Bush administration.
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