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Kerryism of the Day

The senator's caveats and curlicues.

What did he say?
What did he say?

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"So I think it is a war on terror 1 2 3 4 5."
Washington Post interview, May 28, 2004

[1] in a sense

[2] but it's got to be framed differently.

[3] It's not just a military operation. In fact, I think it's far more of an intelligence-gathering, law-enforcement, economic—

[4] I mean, you know, the war part of it ought to be the last resort

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[5] or first resort when your intelligence shows you that there's a cell somewhere that's planning X, Y, or Z, you know it, and you can go in and take them out.

Verbatim:

So I think it is a war on terror, in a sense, but it's got to be framed differently. It's not just a military operation. In fact, I think it's far more of an intelligence-gathering, law-enforcement, economic—I mean, you know, the war part of it ought to be the last resort, or first resort when your intelligence shows you that there's a cell somewhere that's planning X, Y, or Z, you know it, and you can go in and take them out.

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Photograph of John Kerry by Marc Serota/Reuters.