At least one Kennedy has the guts to admit Iraq war was morally correct.

Splitsville: Pat K breaks with dad over Iraq

by Noelle Straub
Monday, September 29, 2003

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy yesterday split from the recent harsh criticism that his father, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, leveled against President Bush for attacking Iraq and said the country is better off without Saddam Hussein.

``I don't agree with his stance,'' the Rhode Island congressman said of his father. ``I believe that the U.N. needs to be a viable international organization and the only way it is viable is if its proclamations and resolutions are enforced.''

The elder Kennedy stirred a storm of controversy recently by saying that the reasons for war were ``made up in Texas'' to help the GOP at election time and calling it ``a fraud.''

But Patrick Kennedy, who voted to authorize Bush to use force against Iraq, said Saddam Hussein had ``the worst track record of any international leader in the history of the U.N.'' for violating human rights and inspections for weapons of mass destruction.

``If he didn't have (the weapons), then how come he gassed all his people with them?'' the younger Kennedy asked. ``The fact is, he definitely had them. Whether he destroyed them or not is up for debate. But he had them and he's got a propensity for invading neighboring countries and causing instability in a part of the world (where) we can't afford to have a lot of instability.

``And I think the country is much safer off without Saddam Hussein,'' he added.

But the congressman took his father's side in arguing that Bush should have built a broader international coalition before waging war.

``I do agree with my dad on his criticism that the president didn't involve the international community and didn't have an endgame strategy,'' Kennedy said. ``So it's not as if I totally disagree with him. I have come to different conclusions on some of the premises of the war but I haven't disagreed with him on the way that he's criticized the president for handling the war.''

Asked about the furor from congressional Republicans, who banded together last week to condemn the Massachusetts senator's rhetoric, Patrick Kennedy said his father's message hasn't changed since before the war.

``People I talk to are glad that they're hearing from him,'' he said. ``One thing you can say about my dad is whether you agree with him or disagree with him, at least you know where he stands.''

The congressman made the comments after speaking to about 25 Democrats in Cedar Rapids on behalf of White House hopeful Rep. Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.). The senior Kennedy was also in Iowa this weekend but stumping for a rival candidate, Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.).

Patrick Kennedy said of his father, ``He's supporting his hometown senator. I wouldn't expect any differently from him.'' But he added that all Democrats will support whoever eventually becomes the party's nominee.

After a rally in Waterloo on Saturday, less than 24 hours before his son was scheduled to visit the city, the elder Kennedy noted Gephardt's past support for his son.