Security Council Members Deny Meeting With Kerry
At the second presidential debate earlier this month, Mr. Kerry said he was more attuned to international concerns on Iraq than President Bush,
citing his meeting with the entire Security Council. "This president hasn't listened. I went to meet with the members of the Security Council in the
week before we voted. I went to New York. I talked to all of them, to find out how serious they were about really holding Saddam Hussein
accountable," Mr. Kerry said of the Iraqi dictator.
. . .
But of the five ambassadors on the Security Council in 2002 who were reached directly for comment, four said they had never met Mr. Kerry.
The four also said that no one who worked for their countries' U.N. missions had met with Mr. Kerry either.
. . .
When reached for comment last week, an official with the Kerry campaign stood by the candidate's previous claims that he had met with the entire
Security Council. But after being told late yesterday of the results of The Times investigation, the Kerry campaign issued a statement that read in part,
"It was a closed meeting and a private discussion."
A Kerry aide refused to identify who participated in the meeting.
. . .
In an interview published in the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine, Mr. Kerry was asked what he would want people to remember about his presidency.
He responded, "That it always told the truth to the American people."