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Winning the Peace in Iraq

Speaking at a town hall meeting in Wisconsin on April 8, John Kerry asked all Americans to remain united in support of our troops and he called on the President to show leadership in rallying international contributions to win the peace in Iraq:

We come here today, first and foremost, to say to our troops how proud we are of them, how grateful we are for their service to country, and how much we support them even as they carry out a difficult task and a difficult policy. No matter what our feelings about the war, we support the troops.

Leadership also requires that we ask the right questions and that we put forward the right policies for our country.

Last September, at the Brookings Institution, I made a speech where I laid out precisely what I thought we ought to do in Iraq and with Iraq and about Iraq.

Again in December of last year, at the Council on Foreign Relations, I repeated the steps we ought to take precisely in order to deal with Iraq.

I believe it is the role of the president of the United States to maximize the ability to be successful and to minimize the cost to the American people, both financially and in lives.

That's common sense. And here, today, once again we are asking the question: Why is the United States of America almost alone in carrying this burden and the risks which the world has a stake in?

There's no Arab country that is advanced by a failed Iraq. No European country is made safer by a failed Iraq. And yet those countries are distinctly absent from the risk-bearing of this effort.

Why? I think Americans have a right to ask why. And the answer to that question lies in both those speeches I made and in the steps which are staring us in the face. This is essentially -- essentially, not exclusively, but essentially -- an American occupation.

If you were to ask any student in college, first year of foreign policy, do you think it's a good idea for the United States of America almost alone to occupy a Middle Eastern nation, what do you think the answer would be?

But that's precisely what we're doing. So once again, I say that we ought to be engaged in a bold, clear, startlingly honest appeal to the world to see the interest. And we should be engaged in the diplomacy that is prepared to share, with all of those other countries that we need to come to the table, the decision-making and the responsibility, and that is how we will resolve this issue.

So it is my hope that in the days ahead and let me make it clear: We must be successful. No one's security is advanced by a failed Iraq. But we deserve an effort that maximizes the opportunity for success and minimizes the spending of American dollars and lives in the effort to achieve what is, after all, in the interests of people all across this planet.

So I hope that in the days ahead common sense and humility will begin to emerge in the approach of our nation and our policy so that we do not see month after month of these images and difficulties. And the president needs to explain to the American people: Who are we turning power over to on the 30th of June? What will we be protecting on the 30th of June?