John Kerry: “6 months ago, President Bush took the country to war with Iraq, without the support of key allies other than Britain…”

“6 months ago, President Bush took the country to war with Iraq, without the support of key allies other than Britain, without the support of the international community at large. We didn't need international support to win the war. We all knew that our brave fighting men and women would defeat Saddam Hussein's forces easily. But we did--and we do--need the international community to help us win the peace--a painfully obvious truth that this administration has steadfastly refused to accept. As long as Iraqis see us as occupiers rather than liberators, our troops will remain at increased risk and our efforts to rebuild Iraq's economy and political system will be suspect. The process of reconstructing Iraq and creating a new Iraqi government must be an international process--not an American process. Only then will it gain full legitimacy in the eyes of the Iraqi people and the world. The Bush administration's brazen go-it-alone policy has placed the burden and the bill for rebuilding Iraq almost solely on the shoulders of the American people. They don't deserve it, and they don't want it. We need an immediate change of course.”