WELL, AT LEAST HE ISN'T PRESIDENT - AT 7:30 P.M. ET:  But he is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  And John Kerry has put his foot in it once more.  From The Hill:

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) said Sunday that he would say no if Gen. David Petraeus wanted more time or more troops to get the job done in Afghanistan.

Speaking on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS," Kerry said that President Obama's strategy with a transitional point in mind was underscoring to Afghans and the Pakistanis "that they need to begin to make this their battle."

I have no doubt that the Taliban will receive this news with great glee, just as the North Vietnamese received young John Kerry's remarks before Congress in the early 70s with unbridled joy.  This guy is a one-man morale team – for America's enemies.

"And the only way to get them to do that is for them not to believe you're there forever," Kerry said. "Now there is a delicate balance, obviously. But you don't need 150,000 troops on the ground, at a million dollars a troop or whatever it is, in order to be able to achieve the goals that we have."

A million dollars a troop?  What a nice, round number.  Wonder where yachtsman Kerry got it. 

Kerry holds an important post, and this kind of posturing just does damage.  It gives the enemy a road map for what to expect.  It demoralizes American soldiers who want to know they'll be backed if things get more critical.  And it must frustrate General Petraeus to know that Lieutenant Kerry will pull the rug out from under him if he requests greater resources.

Good going, John.  Whose morale will you boost next?  Do you speak Chinese?  Persian?

August 1, 2010