The Economist endorses Kerry
2004-10-29 12:56
London - The Economist magazine endorsed John Kerry's candidacy for the White House, citing what it called the "sheer incompetence" of post-war Iraq planning, and the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, which it said would "haunt America for years to come."
The conservative magazine, which backed the Iraq war, said it was supporting Kerry "with a heavy heart," but that the errors of the Bush administration could not be ignored. "Our confidence in him has been shattered," it said in a scathing editorial posted on its website on Thursday.
The Economist last endorsed a Democrat in 1992, when Bill Clinton ran for the presidency. In 2000, it supported George W Bush.
<"This year's battle has been between two deeply flawed men," it said. "George Bush, who has been a radical, transforming president but who has never seemed truly up to the job ... and John Kerry, who often seems to have made up his mind conclusively about something only once, and that was 30 years ago."
'Mr Kerry, not Mr Bush'
"With a heavy heart, we think American readers should vote for John Kerry on November 2nd. ... It is far from an easy call, especially against the backdrop of a turbulent, dangerous world. But, on balance, our instinct is toward change rather than continuity: Mr Kerry, not Mr Bush."
The jailing of political prisoners at Guantanamo and the contravention of the Geneva conventions was the administration's biggest error, it said, and "evidence of America's hypocrisy."
"The biggest mistake was one that will haunt America for years to come. It lay in dealing with prisoners-of-war by sending hundreds of them to the American base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, putting them in a legal limbo, outside the Geneva conventions and outside America's own legal system."
That was "disturbing for those who sympathise with it" and "cause-affirming for those who hate it," it added.
Success in Iraq
Success in Iraq, it said, was now in jeopardy, as was America's reputation in the Islamic world.
It said mistakes in post-war Iraq were the result of "sheer incompetence and hubristic thinking" and also cited the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison, "which strengthened the suspicion that the mistreatment or even torture of prisoners was being condoned."
Regarding Kerry, the magazine said it was concerned at what it called his "oscillation" on key issues but lauded him for being a fiscal conservative and for not being over-influenced by "the religious right."
It predicted that he would be a "more tolerant, less divisive figure on issues such as abortion, gay marriage and stem-cell research."
The Economist sells some 450 000 copies in the United States, accounting for 45% of its worldwide readership.
- AP