Despite Poor Record, Senator Kerry Likely To Become Secretary of State

Syria is an essential player in bringing peace and stability to the region
Senator John Kerry, April 2010

Image from National Review's The Kerry Spot

According to an article in FrontPageMag.com, John Kerry's record in the Senate belies the alleged expertise he would bring as Secretary of State:

Kerry gets a pass for his own lack of judgment regarding a host of issues, from his enduring support for Syrian butcher Bashar Assad and his belief that climate change is a “national security” issue, to his unthinkable testimony before the U.S. Congress maligning America and Vietnam vets while running interference for the Viet Cong? Kerry, it seems, cannot kick the habit of sidling up to the great killing machines of our time.

Among the issues mentioned:

• During the past decade, Kerry has been the US government's highest-ranking apologist for Assad. He made numerous efforts to undermine the Bush administration’s attempt to isolate Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and has repeatedly visited Syria -- meeting with Assad five times from 2009 to 2011.
  
  On this issue, Michael Rubin writes the extent that John Kerry considered Assad a good buddy of his:

  Staffers describe their collective cringe when, after a motorcycle ride with Bashar al-Assad, he returned to Washington referring to Bashar as “my dear friend.” Bashar may be a lot of things, but “my dear friend”—an address Kerry used only with a select few, such as the late Ted Kennedy—should not have been one.

  Bret Stephens notes Kerry's single-minded affection for Syria:

  Sen. Kerry was well aware of the military aid Syria was illegally providing Hezbollah, which also seemed to do nothing to dent his enthusiasm for Assad.

• In a speech about climate change last August, on the floor of the Senate , Kerry said:

  I believe that the situation we face [with climate change] is as dangerous as any of the sort of real crises that we talk about.

• In 1971 Kerry appeared before Congress as a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW), and claimed there were "over 150″ Vietnam vets who

  told the stories at times they had personally raped, cut off ears, cut off heads, taped wires from portable telephones to human genitals and turned up the power, cut off limbs, blown up bodies, randomly shot at civilians, razed villages in fashion reminiscent of Genghis Khan, shot cattle and dogs for fun, poisoned food stocks, and generally ravaged the countryside of South Vietnam in addition to the normal ravage of war.

  Kerry's claims about Vietnamese war crimes have been rebutted, but those claims did not stop Kerry from turning around and bragging about his Vietnamese experience and using it as a reason to vote for him when he ran for president.
  
  
• Disclosures via Wikilieaks reveal that Kerry had been undermining Israel. According to diplomatic cables, Kerry told leaders in Qatar the Golan Heights should be returned to Syria, and there should be a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem, as part of the so-called peace process -- an issue that that should have been left to the those involved to iron out.

But at the end of the day, none of Kerry's errors in judgement will matter:

Yet John Kerry will be nominated and confirmed to replace Hillary Clinton. It doesn’t matter that he has been colossally wrong about Bashar Assad, more willing to negotiate Israel’s position in the peace process, a disciple of junk science, or willing to sell out his fellow veterans and country. He is a member in good standing of the ruling class, and his progressive credentials are a perfect match for an administration equally lacking in judgement and integrity. That’s “how things work” in Washington, D.C.

Unfortunately, when the time comes for Kerry's appointment to be approved, we can expect professional courtesy to trump the requirement of a record that actually demonstrates expertise in foreign affairs.

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