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Kerry Flips on Arafat in Florida
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| By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press Writer |
March 09, 2004 |
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Kerry says his views on Palestinian leader Arafat have shifted
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TAMPA, Florida - John Kerry says he no longer considers Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to be a statesman, but rather "an outlaw to the peace process" in the Middle East who has been rightly shuffled aside.
In a 1997 book, Kerry described "Arafat's transformation from outlaw to statesman." But in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday he said he no longer views Arafat favorably.
"Obviously, Yasser Arafat has been an impediment to the peace process," said Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee-in-waiting. "He missed a historic opportunity and he's proved himself to be irrelevant."
The Bush administration has ruled out dealing with Arafat, claiming he is tainted with terror against Israel, a close U.S. ally. In peace process, the administration has dealt only with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other senior Palestinian officials appointed by Arafat.
Referring to the Palestinian leader as a statesman would be potentially damaging in Florida, which has a heavy Jewish population and a Democratic primary Tuesday. Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas also hold primaries Tuesday.
"He was (a statesman) in 1995," Kerry said, recalling frequent White House meetings between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in search of peace in the Middle East.
"He blew his opportunity in 1999, 2000," Kerry said. "As far as I'm concerned, he's an outlaw to the peace process."
In the wide-ranging interview, Kerry touched on a variety of topics, including the contentious nature of the campaign against President George W. Bush, foreign policy and his process for choosing a running mate.
Of the campaign against Bush, he said, "It's not personal."
"He's an enjoyable person to be with," Kerry said. "He's funny and so forth, but he doesn't keep his promises."
Kerry added: "It has nothing to do with him being a good man, bad man. I'm not here to judge him personally, that's up to other people, that's up to God."
In discussing foreign policy, Kerry said he couldn't guarantee that Saddam Hussein would now be out of power in Iraq if he had been president over the past year.
"I can't tell you that," said Kerry, who faults Bush for not allowing continued U.N. inspections in Iraq for weapons of mass destruction Saddam was said to be hiding.
"If we had exhausted that process and built a legitimate coalition and Saddam Hussein had not complied, I would not have hesitated to march with that coalition against him," said Kerry. "You don't know how an appropriate global coalition with the proper amount of patience might have coerced him into a different set of behaviors."
The Bush campaign wants to depict the Democrat as weak on national security and the war against terrorism. On Monday, Bush accused Kerry of having proposed "deeply irresponsible" cuts in intelligence spending just two years after the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center.
Bush, during a fund-raiser in Dallas, called attention to a 1995 bill Kerry sponsored to trim intelligence spending by $1.5 billion over five years. The cut was part of what Kerry called a "budget-buster bill" to strip $90 billion from the budget and end 40 programs that he said were "pointless, wasteful, antiquated or just plain silly." The plan never came up for a vote.
"This bill was so deeply irresponsible that it didn't have a single co-sponsor in the United States Senate," Bush said, accusing Kerry of "trying to have it both ways."
Kerry spokesman Chad Clanton said the senator's bill was about opposing "business as usual in our intelligence community" and that he has supported $200 billion in intelligence funding over the past seven years - a 50 percent increase since 1996.
Kerry, who was on the final day of a swing through the four Southern states that vote Tuesday, said the South has "changed dramatically" since the last election.
Al Gore, the nominee in 2000 and a native Tennessean, fared poorly in the region, which Kerry said was largely due to Gore's staunch support for gun control. A hunter and gun owner, Kerry said he expected to fare better.
In the interview, Kerry also rejected suggestions that the gay marriage issue would be a potent weapon against him in the South. Kerry opposes same-sex marriage, but favors giving such couples certain rights. He also said he didn't think Bush's support for a constitutional amendment banning such unions would sell well in the South.
"The people of the South who are conservative would never want to disrespect the Constitution of the United States for wildly political purposes," Kerry said. He said economic issues will resonate more.
Kerry has all but clinched the nomination after his most formidable opponents dropped out of the race. A party convention will formally choose a presidential nominee this summer to run against Bush in the November election.
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©Indiana Printing & Publishing Co. 2009
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