Chasing the Wind

A common tactic when politicking is speaking out against something that everybody agrees with. “I am against setting little old ladies on fire, vote for me!” implying, of course, that your opponent must be for whatever hideous thing you are against.

Kerry’s speaking out against nuclear weapons now, which is a good thing. I wouldn’t want him to come out for nuclear weapons. I read over news about his latest position, though, and can’t figure out what, exactly, he wants to do about it. Here’s an example:

“If we secure all bomb-making materials, ensure that no new materials are produced for nuclear weapons, and end nuclear weapons programs in hostile states like North Korea and Iran, we will dramatically reduce the possibility of nuclear terrorism,” he said.

Yay. Wave a magic wand, and all those nuclear weapons go away. Since he’s so close with foreign leaders, I suppose he’s planning on picking up the phone and telling North Korea, “We decided today to end nuclear weapons in your country. Call me back if you have any questions.” Or a perhaps a cute little greeting card festooned with brightly colored mushroom clouds on it. And if they don’t comply, maybe his presidential plan is to give them his middle finger, a gesture he’s recently been practicing.

He goes on to say that he actually wants to give nuclear material to Iran in exchange for them not building bombs with it. What does an oil-rich country like Iran need with nuclear material? Of course they’re building bombs with it.

“Have we done everything we could to secure these dangerous weapons and materials? Have we taken every step we should to stop North Korea and Iran’s nuclear programs? Have we reached out to our allies and forged an urgent global effort to ensure that nuclear weapons and materials are secured?”

It certainly looks like that’s exactly what we’re doing:

MOSCOW/KRAKOW, Poland (Reuters) – Russia joined on Monday a U.S.-led alliance of countries prepared to board ships and raid suspect factories in a crackdown against weapons of mass destruction, a year after President Bush launched the plan. Moscow become the 15th core member of Bush’s Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) just as it began a meeting in the southern Polish city of Krakow.

Kerry goes on to say that nuclear weapons are America’s greatest threat:

“The greatest threat we face today (is) the possibility of al Qaeda or other terrorists getting their hands on a nuclear weapon,” Kerry said. “Osama bin Laden has called obtaining a weapon of mass destruction a ‘sacred duty.”‘

It seems hypocritical to claim that weapons of mass destruction is our greatest threat while simultaneously criticizing Bush for going to Iraq because of weapons of mass destruction. Kerry’s new position is that he wants to go after the weapons, and Bush’s steadfast policy is that he wants to go after weapons and the terrorists.