By the end of March, Joe Biden had returned from his whirl-wind tour across the world. Not only had he gone to Iraq, but he had traveled to every nation within the coalition to speak with leaders about the direction of the Iraq War. Few nations within the coalition were actually willing to commit more to the effort, the only nation that seemed even remotely interested was the United Kingdom, but Tony Blair was not happy with the new President. On the campaign trail, Kerry was very much opposed to the fact the U.S. was basically alone, refusing to recognize the contributions of other nations as significant, it was not the way to win allies in the war. Kerry's entire foundation for staying the course in Iraq was to make sure other nations joined in the fight. Without those nations and their support, was it worth keeping the war alive?
Secretary Biden and President Kerry met over lunch each day of the week - the first week after Biden's return. They sat and talked, discussing the variety of ways to confront the issue of Iraq. It was not going to be an easy task, especially if those within the coalition were largely unwilling to help. Kerry had long been opposed to abandoning the war and calling it quits, but the pressure for him to do just that was mounting. There was no way Kerry could support a proposal to cut-and-run, he would not - could not - do that to the people of Iraq. In fact, he made that explicitly clear in a press conference to the American people when he said, "We've entered this fight, it is not a war all of us wanted, but it is a war we must all accept. I will not leave the people of Iraq with a destroyed nation. I am committed to seeing this war through until the people of Iraq have been treated justly." The tone was harsh and committed, Kerry was planning to stay the course, to an extent.
It was impossible to ignore the increasing pressure to stop the efforts in Iraq. With a lack of international support, the justification was there. Kerry wanted to find another way. He met with Secretaries Hagel and Biden, but nothing they suggested seemed to please the president. Eventually, Kerry called for assistance from an old friend.
When Senator Ted Kennedy arrived at the White House the mood in Washington was bleak. The President's tax plan was stalled and the partisanship in Washington was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Senator Kennedy was a refreshing face to Kerry who had been told that everything he wanted to accomplish wasn't feasible. Kerry blocked off over an hour of his schedule to meet with Kennedy and it was needed, the two former colleagues sat in the Oval Office talking for well over two hours. Their conversation began with who Kerry hoped to replace him in the Senate, with Kerry telling his friend about the plan he worked out with Granholm and Patrick. Kennedy approved of the Patrick choice, and the conversation drifted to how they'd been and such, before beating around the bush ended. Kerry, sitting behind the desk in the Oval Office - the very desk that Ted's brother had sat behind about 40 years earlier - paused. "Hell," he said, "I'm just going to ask you, Ted. What do I do about Iraq?"
Kennedy nodded. The man was old, but his mind was sharp. From the start, Kennedy had been opposed to the War in Iraq. Kerry knew this and Kerry also knew that Kennedy was going to tell him to pull out. To this day, some argue that the very reason Kerry chose to meet with Kennedy was to try and talk himself into pulling support for the war effort. It had been a rough first few months when it came to Iraq and there was absolutely no way that Kennedy was going to tell the president anything except pull the troops out, and that's precisely what he did. As Kerry paced in front of the window behind his desk, he explained the situation to his great friend and close confidant. The nation needed to know, in Kennedy's opinion, that the U.S. would be alone if we went any further, and it was the perfect excuse to seize efforts and bring the troops home. Kerry understood this, he could understand the argument and the justification. What he wasn't sure about was if that was actually the best thing to do for the nation.
He wasn't convinced, not in the least, that ending the war and pulling all the troops out would be a major success for the nation. It would hurt the people of Iraq and leave the mess for future Presidents. That wasn't something Kerry was willing to accept, hell if he abandoned the mission in Iraq it would be very possible he'd have to confront it again before the end of his second term, and that would, perhaps, be the biggest possible disaster. No, simply removing all troops from Iraq was the wrong way to go, but there was another possibility that Kerry was open to.
On January 30th, the people of Iraq had elected a new government - it was a sign that they were moving in the right direction. Would it be possible to redefine the mission in Iraq? To transfer all troops from combat troops to simply training Iraqi forces? Instead of engaging in most of the battles themselves, what if U.S. forces spent their time in Iraq assisting the Iraqi military? It could potentially end the war sooner than earlier expected and it would reduce troop levels in Iraq. Perhaps it was too late to get the plan done by the end of Kerry's first term, but he fully intended to have all troops home from Iraq by 2010 - he couldn't see the war lasting another five years.
The day after the president met with Kennedy, he called a meeting of his national security team, including Stephanie Cutter, Biden, and Hagel. He floated the idea of redefining the mission by March of 2006, and then getting all troops home by January of 2009. Hagel, though somewhat supportive, implied it just couldn't be done. Also at the meeting was George Casey, the general in charge of the forces within Iraq. Casey wasn't so quick to agree with Hagel. In fact, Casey believed that the elections scheduled in Iraq for December of 2005, could put a more moderate government into power within Iraq and that those leaders could pave the way for a full scale down of American involvement within Iraq. That's exactly what John Kerry wanted to hear.
On top of that, Casey was very supportive of a quick transition of U.S. troops from being within the thick of the fight to simply training the Iraqi officials. In fact, that's almost exactly what Casey had advocated for in the Bush Administration. Casey was not supportive of increasing troop levels, as some on the right had suggested, and said that the war could be brought in for a landing in the next few years. Casey's endorsement of the plan was a big step in the right direction.
Biden was also supportive. Ending the war sooner rather than later would help to restore America's image around the world and that, in turn, would make Biden's job easier. He was ready to go to the U.N. and seek approval for the plan, but Kerry assumed it wouldn't be an issue. Still, they would need to inform others within the coalition of the plan. They were months away from that, however, and there would need to be a lot of planning to make this plan happen. At the end of the meeting, Kerry ordered Casey and others to work on a plan to redefine the mission and eventually withdraw American troops from Iraq. The plan was to remain confidential and much of it was hanging on the results of the December elections, but Kerry was optimistic that the war could be brought to an end.
Iraq was not the only international situation arising. On March 31st, Pope John Paul II had developed a septic shock in the wake of a urinary tract infection. President Kerry, himself, was a devout Roman Catholic and the situation attracted his personal attention. While the pope was still alive, the fact he had yet to be transported to a hospital implied that he was on his death bed. Kerry joined the world in monitoring the events within Vatican City closely, praying for the recovery of the pope. Kerry did insist that should the pope die he would attend his funeral at the Vatican and so the Secret Service and others began to prepare such a trip.
But the Vatican wasn't the only trip Kerry wanted to make. He fully intended to be in Iraq by the end of his first year in office. Kerry decided he would spend Christmas with the troops in Iraq. December was in the thick of winter and was reliably safer than a trip made in the middle of the summer, the peak of the fighting season. On top of that, it would be after the elections in Iraq and would give the President the chance to meet with the new government and begin talking with them about his long term plans for the situation developing in Iraq and how the U.S. would proceed. It was a busy time to be the nation's Commander-in-Chief.