Another great source of careful explanation, point by point, to those who have thus far desired the simplistic and deceiving approach of the Bush campaign. (Of course, most who accept the Bush slant will rareky if ever accept contradicting evidence)

KR Washington Bureau | 09/23/2004 | Despite accusations, Kerry’s position on Iraq has been consistent

Kerry voted in October 2002 for the congressional resolution that authorized President Bush to go to war in Iraq. He now says that the invasion was not justified and has made the United States less secure.

These positions are not contradictory, but his attempts to explain the distinction between them are often complicated, and they have given President Bush an opening to caricature Kerry as a flip-flopper. However, beneath the torrent of campaign verbiage, Kerry’s position on Iraq for the past two years has been consistent and defensible – just difficult to sell in a sound-bite world.
Kerry always called for a broad international coalition to confront Saddam Hussein, and going to war only as a last resort. Like most senators, he thought Bush needed the authority – it passed the Senate 77-23, and Kerry was one of 29 Democrats who supported it.
But once Bush got the authority, Kerry believes, he misused it.

Not that hard. The presdient deceived the Congress into thinking he was going to be reasonable. But as it turned out, the president took it as a blank check.

Kerry: “… It was not a vote to go that day. It was a vote to go through the process of going to the U.N., building the allies and then making a judgment of whether we had to go.”

“Let there be no doubt or confusion about where we stand on this. I will support a multilateral effort to disarm (Saddam) by force, if we ever exhaust … other options,” Kerry said in debate.

Then as now, he urged Bush to work with the United Nations.

“If we do wind up going to war with Iraq, it is imperative that we do so with others in the international community,” Kerry said.

In fact, Bush promised at the time to build a broad coalition and go slow.

In an Oct. 7, 2002, speech in Cincinnati, just four days before the Senate vote, the president pledged to exhaust other options and said that war was “not inevitable.” He urged Congress to pass the resolution to give him leverage.

Here’s the line that Bush, as usual, grossly misrepresents. Perhpas this president truly doesn’t understand the “nuances” ; I think he does; in either case, he;’s either an idiot, or a liar. The latter is the case. Bush is depending on the inabilityt of most Americans to draw the distinction:

“I actually voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it,” Kerry said once, a line that the Bush campaign used in commercials to mock Kerry for inconsistency.

When that measure failed, Kerry voted against the $87 billion on final passage. He said his vote was a protest against adding $87 billion to the burgeoning federal budget deficit. He also said he was protesting what he saw as sloppy planning for securing the peace. That position, at least, is consistent with a belief that Bush mishandled the authority that Congress gave him.

Here also is a hint at the political process; one which “attaches” a lot of other issues to specific legislation, in an attempt to include plans of action on how to fund various efforts; and in these negotiations , much more is at stake than one particular issue, even the NAME of the bill. The matter of 87 billion in the face of an already rapidly rising deficit is also very much on the minds of some in Congress. In fact, many of bills Zell Miller ranted about Kerry voting down were ALSO voted down by Cheney himself, but this does not fir the character assasination story line, so that little tidbit is left out.

In short, as above, Kerry’s position is intelligent, consistent, and very much at odds with the President, adn YES, it is much more so at odds with the President as the LIES of George W. Bush and his cronies have surfaced and been rebvealed by various members of Congress, FORMER Bush administration officials, and even some present ones.

A good wrap summary is made by Kerry:

This is about President Bush and his decisions and his choices and his unwillingness … to live in a world of reality. Indeed.