Kerry Says He Met With UN Security Council

In the same speech to a Unity Conference of minority journalists where John Kerry criticized President Bush for his immediate reaction to the 9-11 attacks, he again raised the assertion that he had met with foreign leaders prior to the vote on the war in Iraq on March 11. His latest comments shed some light on exactly who those foreign leaders were.

ATLANTA, GA (PRWEB) August 11, 2004 -- (GoodNewsAmerica.us)- In the same speech to a Unity Conference of minority journalists where John Kerry criticized President Bush for his immediate reaction to the 9-11 attacks, he again raised the assertion that he had met with foreign leaders prior to the vote on the war in Iraq on March 11. His latest comments shed some light on exactly who those foreign leaders were.

" I believe in my heart of hearts and in my gut that this president fails that test in Iraq. And I know this because I, personally, and others were deeply involved in the effort with other countries to bring them to the table. I met with the Security Council of the United Nations in the week preceding the vote in the Senate."

It still remains to be known with whom he met on the Security Council, unless it was the entire Security Council. If so, there is no official record of Kerry formally meeting with the full Security Council.

Further, if he did, nothing has been found documenting permission given by the State Department to do so.

The History

At a Hollywood, FL fundraising event on March 8, Senator John Kerry announced he had received word from unnamed foreign leaders who wanted to see him defeat President Bush in the November elections.

"I've met foreign leaders who can't go out and say this publicly, but boy they look at you and say, 'You've got to win this, you've got to beat this guy, we need a new policy,' things like that," he said.

Although Boston Globe reporter Patrick Healy revised the original quote from a pool report to "more leaders", Mr. Kerry did not back down from his assertions. Again on March 14 Mr. Kerry made his claim, but continued to resist naming names while under pressure after remarks by Secretary of State Colin Powell.

"I'm not going to betray a private conversation with anybody," he said. "I have heard from people, foreign leaders elsewhere in the world who don't appreciate the Bush administration and would love to see a change in the leadership of the United States."

The Washington Times conducted interviews with embassies of countries opposing the war in Iraq and concluded that there had been no meetings between Mr. Kerry and foreign heads of state since the beginning of 2003. After a review of Mr. Kerry's schedule, it was shown he had no opportunities for personal meetings with foreign heads of state, save one on September 24 when the New Zealand Foreign Minister was in Washington. Several foreign leaders including Germany's Schroeder and the Australian Foreign Minister deny any contact with Kerry.