John Kerry: “I would be happy to do so. I thank the distinguished chairman. Mr. President, I heard the Senator from South Dakota say…”

“I would be happy to do so. I thank the distinguished chairman. Mr. President, I heard the Senator from South Dakota say that there are occasions when a generation faces a struggle between good and evil. I agree with that. There is good and there is evil in this world. And what radical fascist extremists are doing in the name of religion is evil. I know as well as anybody here in the Senate that we have to stand up to that. But we have to stand up to it in the best traditions and values of our country. We have to stand up to it in a way that brings people to our side and does not alienate them. It is incomprehensible to me that after these several years, where we started with ``we are all Americans'' post-9/11, and the world was at our side, that we have now seen radical, extreme terrorists isolate the United States of America in that particular part of the world. That is a failure of policy. And it is a failure that makes the United States of America less secure, not more. Some people have said: Well, if you tell the terrorists that we are leaving in a few days--whatever period of time--I remind them, we are not leaving altogether. We are going to leave our special forces personnel who are capable of taking out the terrorists. But the bottom line is that they are not waiting for anything today. We just lost two troops in the most brutal, horrible manner. They are not waiting now.…”