Crossroads, by Andrew Cuomo: on War & Peace
Al Sharpton:
Oppose unprovoked military action; Iraq was wrong
I call on the party to clearly stand for the following principles. We must not be tentative or vague in our stand. We must be clear and unequivocal.We should oppose unprovoked military action. The Bush war in Iraq was wrong and unnecessary.
It is becoming the Vietnam of the 21st century. We should be unequivocal in challenging the Republicans' inconsistent foreign policy, e.g., North Korean policy as opposed to Iraqi policy.
We must also challenge the blatant hypocrisy of a party that preaches "balanced budget" sermons while they cause the greatest deficit spending in history. How come we are not pressing them on how, with record state budget deficits,
Bush can ask for $75 billion for the 1st 30 days of war and at the same time propose a $14 billion cut on veterans' programs in his budget plan to Congress?
Source: Crossroads, by Andrew Cuomo, p.245-246
Oct 14, 2003
Andrew Cuomo:
We did not effectively question Bush on Iraq war
In Iraq, the Democratic Party was neither a clear critic nor a proponent of the president. We did not effectively question the president's evidence and logic nor his long-term plan for nation-building at the conclusion of the military effort.
Neither did we lead the charge. Mostly, we were decidedly ambivalent.
Source: Crossroads, by Andrew Cuomo, p. 60
Oct 14, 2003
Bill Clinton:
Most Democrats supported Bush on Iraq
Democrats have been virtually unanimous in supporting the fight against terror and additional defense spending to get it done. Most Democrats have supported the president in Iraq. They've said yes to unlimited inspections and the use of force if the
UN resolution is not honored. And the Homeland Security bill was Sen. Joe Lieberman's proposal, one that Bush opposed for 7 months. But we failed to get that message out, or to emphasize our party's ideas for achieving greater national security.
Source: Crossroads, by Andrew Cuomo, p. 35
Oct 14, 2003
Democratic Party:
Granting open-ended authority for Iraq war lost '02 election
The Republican victory in the 2002 election, while large enough to give them control of Congress, was still a narrow one. One factor tipping the election to the Republicans was the unnecessary weight of key miscalculations by Democrats.
Apparently hoping to reduce the impact of national security issues, some Democrats supported legislation giving the president open-ended authority for a war with
Iraq, without first requiring either that the case be made that war is necessary or that the US attempt to work through the UN, the organization created precisely for such a situation.
So, on foreign policy the 2002 election was not a referendum on Democratic versus Republican ideals. Left without a clear choice, voters, by a slight margin, opted for Republican over Republican Lite.
Source: Crossroads, by Andrew Cuomo, p. 89-90
Oct 14, 2003
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend:
Stem spread of nuclear, biological, & chemical weapons
We must take concrete steps to stem the spread of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons. This spring is the 40th anniversary of the Partial Test Ban Treaty. As I write this, President Bush is taking us to war to halt Iraq from building weapons of
mass destruction. But he had done little to stop other countries from following a similar course. We can no longer afford to do foreign policy like a jigsaw puzzle, putting together small pieces one at a time. We need an overarching strategy.
Source: Crossroads, by Andrew Cuomo, p.262
Oct 14, 2003
Page last updated: Apr 25, 2013