French TV Anchor Confronts John Kerry on U.S. Condemning of Putin’s Ukraine Invasion: ‘Why Isn’t Bush Judged in the Same Way?’

A French TV anchor confronted John Kerry over whether U.S. condemnations of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s bloody and baseless invasion of Ukraine come as hypocritical in light of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Kerry, who serves as the U.S. special presidential envoy for climate and was in Paris for a climate summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, appeared for an interview with veteran journalist Darius Rochebin on French news channel LCI Sunday night. They discussed Kerry’s work to combat climate change and the Russian war against Ukraine, which prompted Rochebin to bring up recent criticism of President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003 from countries in South America.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Rochebin noted, has criticized the U.S. for unfair expectations for his nation on both addressing the climate and condemning foreign interventions.

“We have to judge Putin for crimes of aggression, of course. But you, the Americans, you committed the crime of aggression in Iraq,” Rochebin said. “These countries of the Global South say, should we judge George Bush? Why isn’t Bush judged in the same way?”

“No,” Kerry shot back.

“Why?” Rochebin asked.

“Because there’s never even been a direct process or accusation or anything with respect to President Bush himself,” Kerry said. “Have there been abuses in the course of that war, yes.”

“Was it not a crime of aggression to enter into Iraq on the basis of a lie?” Rochebin replied.

“No, no, no,” Kerry said. “Well, we didn’t know it was a lie at the time. You know the evidence that was produced, people didn’t know that it was a lie. So no, again, I think, you’re stretching something. That’s not a constructive way —”

“But he lied,” Rochebin said of Bush. “He lied. He lied.”

“Sir, I’m not going to re-debate the Iraq war with you here right now,” Kerry said. “We spent a lot of time doing that previously. I was opposed to going in, I thought it was the wrong thing to do. But we gave the president the power, regrettably, in the Congress, based on the lie. And when we knew it was a lie, people stood up and did the right thing.”

“I get that. But you understand that for the countries of the South, of course, justice, equality, principles, it’s their impression that there is a double standard. And that weighs today, including on the debate of the climate,” Rochebin said.

Kerry replied that the U.S. administration is clear about its condemnations of the invasion of Ukraine and dealing with the climate crisis in an equitable way.

Watch the exchange above, and the full interview here, via LCI.

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