When after September 11th, flags flew from porches across America and foreign newspaper headlines proclaimed "We're all Americans now," the Administration could have kept the world united, but they chose not to.
And they were wrong.
Instead, they pushed allies away, isolated America, and lost leverage we desperately need today.
When they could have demanded and relied on accurate instead of manipulated intelligence, they chose not to.
They were wrong -
- and instead they sacrificed our credibility at home and abroad.
When they could have given the inspectors time to discover whether Saddam Hussein actually had weapons of mass destruction, when they could have paid attention to Ambassador Wilson's report, they chose not to.
And they were wrong.
Instead they attacked him, and they attacked his wife to justify attacking Iraq. We don't know yet whether this will prove to be an indictable offense in a court of law, but for it, and for misleading a nation into war, they will be indicted in the high court of history. History will judge the invasion of Iraq one of the greatest foreign policy misadventures of all time.
But the mistakes were not limited to the decision to invade. They mounted, one upon another.
When they could have listened to General Shinseki and put in enough troops to maintain order, they chose not to.
They were wrong.
When they could have learned from George Herbert Walker Bush and built a genuine global coalition, they chose not to.
They were wrong.
When they could have implemented a detailed State Department plan for reconstructing post-Saddam Iraq, they chose not to.
And they were wrong again.
When they could have protected American forces by guarding Saddam Hussein's ammo dumps where there were weapons of individual destruction, they exposed our young men and women to the ammo that now maims and kills them because they chose not to act.
And they were wrong.
When they could have imposed immediate order and structure in Baghdad after the fall of Saddam, Rumsfeld shrugged his shoulders, said Baghdad was safer than Washington, D.C. and chose not to act.
He was wrong.
When the Administration could have kept an Iraqi army selectively intact, they chose not to.
They were wrong.
When they could have kept an entire civil structure functioning to deliver basic services to Iraqi citizens, they chose not to.
They were wrong.
When they could have accepted the offers of the United Nations and individual countries to provide on the ground peacekeepers and reconstruction assistance, they chose not to.
They were wrong.
When they should have leveled with the American people that the insurgency had grown, they chose not to. Vice President Cheney even absurdly claimed that the "insurgency was in its last throes."
He was wrong.
Damn it's good to see Kerry pound that home over and over again. And isn't the list of things they were wrong on truly incredible?
Even for you folks who are still mad at Kerry, this laundry list may be something worth keeping handy.
For you folks who like Kerry, enjoy the shows tonight.
