Kerry supports pre-emptive strike

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) said Friday he would be willing to launch a pre-emptive strike against terrorists if he had adequate intelligence of a threat.
Kerry offered some support for one of the most controversial aspects of President Bush (news - web sites)'s national security policy, even as he criticized the president for not reforming intelligence agencies after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks."

Question for all of you.Wasnt it just recently when he opposed the idea?
Why the flip flop?

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=536&e=1&u=/ap/20040717/ap_on_el_pr/kerry_intelligence

Kerry Backs Much of Pre-Emption Doctrine

Jul. 17, 2004 12:00 AM
Kerry rips Bush Iraq intelligence failures
Democrat urges doubling size of CIA secret unit

WASHINGTON - Sen. John Kerry on Friday faulted President Bush for intelligence failures in Iraq, called for doubling the size of the CIA's clandestine service and said that as president he would hit terrorists pre-emptively depending on the "legitimacy and sufficiency" of the threat.

Kerry, taking a detour from his education message of the day, declined to say how he would have voted on the Iraq war resolution if the intelligence community had been less assertive about its claims that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

"Am I prepared as president to go get 'em before they get us, if we locate them and have the sufficient intelligence? You bet I am, you bet I am," he said. "The key is the legitimacy and sufficiency of that threat."

Kerry's remarks were his first extensive comments on U.S. spying capabilities since the Senate Intelligence Committee issued a scathing 511-page report last week that concluded that the CIA mischaracterized the threat posed by Iraq.

Kerry seemed to dispute a conclusion that the Bush administration didn't pressure intelligence analysts to bolster the case against Saddam Hussein.

He echoed the conclusions of Democrats on the committee, noting that the CIA's ombudsman for politicization told the committee that he had detected "hammering" by the Bush administration on Iraq intelligence. Republicans argued that there was a strong demand for intelligence on Iraq but not a demand that the CIA reach a predetermined outcome.

"My goal is not to find a way to go to war," Kerry said at his headquarters in a quickly assembled news conference. "My goal will not be to create an atmosphere of pressure where people feel compelled to move in a direction. My goal would be to find the truth."

Kerry didn't offer details or a timetable for doubling the CIA's clandestine service, the undercover agents who work overseas to steal secrets and recruit foreign operatives. He also called for a Cabinet-level director of national intelligence to oversee all intelligence operations, from the CIA to those run by the Department of Defense.

Proposals for such an intelligence overseer have been discussed for several years, but the idea gained momentum amid revelations of intelligence failures surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and Iraq.

The Bush campaign zeroed in on an amendment Kerry introduced in 1994 to a defense appropriations bill that would have cut $4 billion in defense spending, including $1 billion targeted for intelligence. Several Democrats had objected to Kerry's measure.

"John Kerry's attack is another example of his flailing efforts to defend a record that is out of the mainstream," Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt said.

Some current and former intelligence officials say the idea of an overseer could cause more problems than it solves. They fear it would dilute the role of the CIA as the nation's premier intelligence-gathering and analysis operation and that it would spark a debilitating turf war.

Doubling the number of U.S. clandestine officers would take years, according to statements by top CIA officials.

The clandestine service of spies was deeply reduced in the first half of the 1990s, so much so that in one year the graduating class was no more than several dozen.