Posted 3:33 PM by Robert

The Senator's Excess

Senator John Kerry famously informed us: "The greatest position of strength is by exercising the best judgement in the pursuit of diplomacy, not in some trumped-up, so-called coalition of the bribed, the coerced, the bought and the extorted, but in a genuine coalition."

That approach apparently did not go over as well as the Senator hoped, since we now learn:

Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, who voted to authorize military action but has accused President Bush of rushing into war, said he will cease his complaints once the shooting starts. ''It's what you owe the troops,'' said a statement from Kerry, a Navy veteran of the Vietnam War. ''I remember being one of those guys and reading news reports from home. If America is at war, I won't speak a word without measuring how it'll sound to the guys doing the fighting when they're listening to their radios in the desert.''

But I wonder if someone drew his attention to this Heritage Foundation summary of economic links between Iraq and France, Germany, Russia, and China, as an astute reader did for the Man Without Qualities. Perusing the Heritage Foundation report certainly does help clarify where the financial incentives lie for the "follow the money" enthusiasts. Following the advice of an earlier, sharper resident of his state, Senator Kerry might want to count the spoons even faster now that Mr. Chirac has been driven to loudly describing his obstructionism as a matter of "fundamentals" approximating honor.