Living in Europe, I obviously get an incomplete view on both candidates and their policies, so i was really interested in the debate. i saw only a part of it since it was being broadcasted at 2 am - 4 am and I had to go to work at 8
The first thing I'd like to point out is : many people mentioned that Bush spoke with long pauses and that makes him look bad. I think we should remember that
the ability to speak in public isn't the one that really matters, it's the ability to lead the country which is important!.
So I say, let him pause and stutter, let him make sometimes ankward sentences, but let us debate his opinions and views rather than looks.
The one thing I noticed during the debate is that neither Bush nor Kerry really has any long term plans for Iraq (Personally I think the invasion was a bad idea). Kerry seems to want to draw out the troops as soon as possible, this is about the worst thing you can do at this moment. If the US troops leave now, Iraq will fall to civil war and destabalise the entire region, which will lead to an economic disaster all over the world due to oil availability being seriously threatened.
A good point from Kerry was to get the UN involved. At least they may still have some credibility left with the Iraqi people. The UN combined with US troops in the background might be able to turn the situation around.
Another issue mentioned is that the war on terrorism wasn't supposed to be fought in Iraq. Kerry surely has a point there, however at the current time, this is no longer the case, Iraq is crammed with terrorists.
There was only one thing that did scare me, Bush never denied that he wouldn't invade another country pre-emptively, I hope he doesn't start another war.
Bush or Kerry, for me it's a hard choice, I don't really like Bush, but I don't trust Kerry at all, he changes his opinions on any subject to the position that gets more votes. With Bush we know what to expect, with Kerry.... who knows what he'll do, he keeps switching sides faster than the weather .
PS
Quote:
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"Actually he forgot about Poland." Oh yes, how could we forget the incredible might of Poland in the war on terror? Wait weren't there news stories about Spain and Poland wanting to pull out of Iraq?
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It may seem as a stupid remark, but poland is one of the biggest supporters of the US here in Europe, and these nations are really sensitive about their help being appreciated or not. It's not about poland doing alot or not, it's about appreciating their help. If Kerry wants to draw in a large coalition to help in Iraq he should be very carefull NOT to insult these nations by forgetting them in important matters. Ignoring a nation which helps is no good start to build an international coalition. And like it or not, in the Afghanistan war Bush was able to get most of the world behind him, this is an amazing achievement which I am not certain many people can realise.
About Spain : Madrid got bombed 3 days before national elections (200 ppl died that day
) Due to this bombing the people in Spain suddenly changed their votes to a party which was against the war, while before the bombing the pro-US faction was in lead. So terrorism right before an election is what caused spain to drop out, not Bush .