Clinton’s team aids Kerry on military

Sen. John Kerry, who delivers a major speech today on how he would reshape the military, is getting his national security ideas from a cadre of retired generals and ex-civilian officials who advised President Clinton.

But in speeches so far, the Massachusetts Democrat sounds like President Bush when discussing his strategy for the war on terrorism and a military of the future. Mr. Kerry even attempts to sound tougher than the hawkish president.

The presidential candidate said this week that he wants to “secure all bomb-making materials” in the world. The phrase seemed designed to trump Mr. Bush’s achievements in getting Libya to disarm and cracking Pakistan’s nuclear weapons black market.

Mr. Kerry’s series of national security speeches also is a bid to close poll numbers that give Mr. Bush a big edge in fighting the war on terror. In the process, the candidate is positioning himself to the right of the Democratic Party’s left wing, which ridicules the need for a global war on terror.

“His speech will be focused on strengthening the military to meet the new threats we face,” said campaign spokeswoman Brooke Anderson.

Mr. Kerry says he wants to hunt down terrorists worldwide and prepare the military for new threats — themes that closely mirror those of the Bush administration.

The president has adopted a policy of pre-emption to kill or capture al Qaeda and other terrorists before they attack.

Mr. Kerry seemed to echo that position in a May 27 speech. “As president,” he said, “my No. 1 security goal will be to prevent the terrorists from gaining weapons of mass murder. And our overriding mission will be to disrupt and destroy their terrorist cells. … We must take the fight to the enemy on every continent.”

In the speech, Mr. Kerry did not repeat his earlier position that the military would play “far less” of a role in the war on terror if he is elected.

The earlier statement has stirred questions on whether Mr. Kerry would revert to counterterrorism policies of the Clinton presidency, when no military attack on the ground was launched against Osama bin Laden or his al Qaeda network.

Mr. Kerry also said in the speech that “we must modernize the world’s most powerful military to meet the new threats.”

The statement is similar to Mr. Bush’s pledge as candidate in 1999 and 2000 to transform the military for the 21st century by ending some developing weapons systems in favor of more futuristic ones.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has pushed the armed forces to break away from Cold War doctrines and to adopt battlefield tactics that emphasize speed in getting to the battle and in fighting the enemy.

Mr. Kerry also says he would temporarily increase Army strength by 40,000 soldiers to ease the burden on the 10 active-duty divisions that are stretched thin globally. The Army, under Mr. Bush, has used emergency powers to increase the ranks by up to 30,000 to keep troop levels in Iraq at about 138,000.

Mr. Kerry’s most conspicuous supporters among retired four-star generals are John Shalikashvili, whom Mr. Clinton appointed as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1993; and Wesley Clark, whom Mr. Clinton named as chief of U.S. Southern Command at a time when some in the Army wanted him to retire at three-star rank. Mr. Clinton later appointed the general as chief of NATO, where he directed the 79-day air war against Serbian forces of deposed leader Slobodan Milosevic.

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