The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Kerry, Newest Neocon

The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: Kerry, Newest Neocon

Watching a U.S. election from abroad can be frustrating. All I can go on is news reports and op-ed columns. I don't even see the ads. The white papers, etc., on the campaign Web sites are useless -- designed to say nothing at all.

My basic take on Iraq is that it was a distraction in the war on terror that didn't make Americans safer. That said, once in there, we have to finish it, or at least make the country stable enough so it doesn't turn into another Afghanistan. I don't see the contradiction in Kerry's remarks on Iraq that Safire comments on, but he makes a good point on Kerry's historical goof on the cold war.