In another John Kerry flip-flop, the Democratic nominee admitted that his ballyhooed plan for Iraq for getting a "true coalition" to send troops as replacements for Americans has no chance of succeeding (via Right On Red):

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry conceded yesterday that he probably will not be able to convince France and Germany to contribute troops to Iraq if he is elected president.

The Massachusetts senator has made broadening the coalition trying to stabilize Iraq a centerpiece of his campaign, but at a town hall meeting yesterday, he said he knows other countries won't trade their soldiers' lives for those of U.S. troops.

"Does that mean allies are going to trade their young for our young in body bags? I know they are not. I know that," he said.

Asked about that statement later, Mr. Kerry said, "When I was referring to that, I was really talking about Germany and France and some of the countries that had been most restrained."

"Other countries are obviously more willing to accept responsibilities," he added, as he took questions from reporters in a school yard in Tipton, Iowa.

Well, what other countries? Other countries that have listened to Kerry deride allies like Poland and Australia as "coerced and bribed"? Kerry's entire argument has been that his superior diplomatic skills -- such as those that allowed him to denigrate Iraqi PM Ayad Allawi's credibility and his campaign to call him a puppet -- in order to convince major partners to join the US in Iraq. The two countries he's named on the campaign trail have been France and Germany. So now he admits that they aren't going to go for his diplomacy any more than Bush's ... and that leaves the Kerry plan looking like the Bush plan, only without Poland, Australia, and Iraq:

But criticism of the coalition by Mr. Kerry has led to ruffled feathers abroad.

Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, the leader of one of the countries already contributing troops, sharply criticized Mr. Kerry for his frequent comments that no country besides the United States and Britain is contributing troops in a substantial way.

"It is sad that a senator with 20 years of experience underestimates Polish sacrifice, this is sad," Mr. Kwasniewski said in an interview with Poland's TVN television, saying it was "immoral" to ignore the contributions of Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria and others.

It's even more sad that such a senator who considers himself a foreign-affairs and diplomacy expert could insult so many nations who willingly came to the US's side, while sucking up to the three or four nations that undermined US and UN policy in Iraq for over a decade before strong-arming Eastern Europeans to keep them from supporting us in the UN. When it comes to actually having a plan for postwar Iraq, it's sadly apparent that Senator No and Senator Gone plan on cribbing the Bush plan, sticking their names at the top, and hope no one notices.

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» Why Johnny Can't Pass the Global Test from Infidel Cowboy
Bill Burkett Some lady at a cattle expo passed me this top secret Kerry report card that was supposed to have been purged from his records: Polish tester: F. Chinese tester: F. Iranian tester: F. French tester: F. German tester:... [Read More]

Tracked on October 6, 2004 7:33 AM

» Reality 1, Kerry 0 = No French Troops from The Key Monk
"Does that mean allies are going to trade their young for our young in body bags? I know they are not. I know that," [Kerry] said. Good call, Senator. Only took you 2 years to realize that after Pres. Bush did, and he's supposedly a dummy! Now that ... [Read More]

Tracked on October 6, 2004 9:28 AM

» Kerry's coalition from A Physicist's Perspective
...I agree with Captain Ed: What other countries? Or maybe he's thinking of the Canadians, as I posted yesterday. And I want to ask again -- what other countries (aside from North Korea) that we would WANT there have a significant number of troops to... [Read More]

Tracked on October 6, 2004 11:33 AM

» http://rightonred.net/index.php?p=432 from RIGHT ON RED >>
Other than these posts from Captain Ed, Infidel Cowboy, and the Key Monk, there doesn't seem to be a lot of coverage of Kerry's new Iraq position. I think it's a remarkable turn of events. The Kerry policy on Iraq is almost indistinguishable from... [Read More]

Tracked on October 6, 2004 11:39 AM

» Kerry Accepts France/Germany Rejection from InTheBullpen.com
Interesting considering John Kerry has said multiple times that his “plan in Iraq” is to bring other countries to the table and have them put boots on the ground. Kerry has had an epiphany of some sort and now realizes other countries will not contribu... [Read More]

Tracked on October 6, 2004 11:39 AM

» And we should vote for you because... from Mental Hiccups
I have to conclude that this just about does it for Kerry... [Read More]

Tracked on October 6, 2004 1:38 PM