John Kerry launches a direct challenge to President Bush:
Kerry makes bid for veterans
By Glen Johnson, Boston Globe Staff, 8/24/2003
Nashua - Senator John F. Kerry launched a direct challenge yesterday to President Bush's perceived strength in national security matters, reaching out to active-duty and retired members of the armed forces by questioning the administration's decision making in Iraq and its treatment of veterans.
Against a backdrop of a war memorial and standing before a group of veterans from the Vietnam and Korean wars, as well as the Persian Gulf War, the Democratic presidential contender from Massachusetts accused the administration of underestimating the peacekeeping demands in postwar Iraq, of subjecting veterans to long waiting times for services, and of failing to change a policy that deducts disability payments to veterans from their standard retirement pay.
Kerry also sought to highlight disagreements between the military and civilian leadership in the Pentagon. He recalled an occasion in the spring when the former Army chief of staff, now-retired General Eric K. Shinseki, drew the wrath of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld for telling Congress he envisioned the need for a force of several hundred thousand soldiers in postwar Iraq. Rumsfeld said publicly the estimate was ''way off the mark,'' but some military analysts now say more than the current force of 150,000 is needed to quell attacks on coalition troops. About 65 US soldiers have been killed in hostile incidents since the president declared an end to major combat May 1.
''Where is the apology to General Shinseki?'' Kerry demanded, as he faced the Purple Heart Memorial in Deschenes Park. ''Where are the acknowledgements of misjudging how much people would be deemed to be liberators versus occupiers? . . . My friends, we have read of those troops currently having difficulty getting water, getting other supplies. We've read of the requirements that combat military people are now facing trying to stand police duty and guard duty in a postwar situation that was clearly underestimated -- not by the military personnel, but by the civilian leaders of the military, by the administration itself.''
A spokesman for the Republican National Committee, which responds on behalf of the White House to criticism by the Democratic presidential candidates, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The speech was a preview of remarks Kerry plans to deliver tomorrow in San Antonio at the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Also scheduled to address the group are Rumsfeld and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.
Kerry plans to highlight his background as a combat veteran of Vietnam, as well as the alleged neglect of veterans, as he publicly kicks off his campaign with speeches in South Carolina and Iowa on Sept. 2. Veterans are an active voting bloc, as Republican Senator John S. McCain of Arizona showed with his 2000 presidential campaign, and many of them live in the South, an area Bush swept over Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 general election. Bob Hannan of Dover, who introduced Kerry and serves as chairman of New Hampshire Veterans for Kerry, told the crowd: ''As a New Hampshire Vietnam veteran, I'm volunteering my time to the Kerry campaign for one reason: I want to see a real veteran in the White House, and John Kerry is that real veteran.'' Bush critics allege that he received his assignment to the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War through political influence.Kerry said that 20 percent of today's reservists have no health care, that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved a cut in reservist pay, that the Pentagon supports reductions in combat and family pay for active-duty personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that 150,000 veterans have to wait at least six months to fill prescriptions at Veterans Affairs hospitals. ''We hear a lot of talk today about `values,' but I regret to say we don't see people translating that talk into valuing the true things they talk about,'' Kerry said. ''I regret to say that even as we are creating a new generation of veterans . . . this country and this administration is not keeping faith with those who serve. I don't take pleasure in saying that.''
In an exchange with reporters after his speech, Kerry said the administration's Iraq policy ''has grotesquely misjudged and miscalculated how difficult winning the peace is.'' He called for internationalizing the postwar military force, saying the administration's decision two weeks ago to rebuff an offer of help from the United Nations was ''one of the most egregious decisions that I've heard in recent memory.''
Kerry said the resolution authorizing force could have been reworded to accommodate US needs, ''but it is stubborn, prideful resistance on the part of this administration -- driven by ideology and rigidity -- that is preventing them from making smart decisions that will help protect the troops and win the victory we want.''
Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com
P.S. Roger & Bobby - This One's for You!
Kerry makes bid for veterans
By Glen Johnson, Boston Globe Staff, 8/24/2003
Nashua - Senator John F. Kerry launched a direct challenge yesterday to President Bush's perceived strength in national security matters, reaching out to active-duty and retired members of the armed forces by questioning the administration's decision making in Iraq and its treatment of veterans.
Against a backdrop of a war memorial and standing before a group of veterans from the Vietnam and Korean wars, as well as the Persian Gulf War, the Democratic presidential contender from Massachusetts accused the administration of underestimating the peacekeeping demands in postwar Iraq, of subjecting veterans to long waiting times for services, and of failing to change a policy that deducts disability payments to veterans from their standard retirement pay.
Kerry also sought to highlight disagreements between the military and civilian leadership in the Pentagon. He recalled an occasion in the spring when the former Army chief of staff, now-retired General Eric K. Shinseki, drew the wrath of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld for telling Congress he envisioned the need for a force of several hundred thousand soldiers in postwar Iraq. Rumsfeld said publicly the estimate was ''way off the mark,'' but some military analysts now say more than the current force of 150,000 is needed to quell attacks on coalition troops. About 65 US soldiers have been killed in hostile incidents since the president declared an end to major combat May 1.
''Where is the apology to General Shinseki?'' Kerry demanded, as he faced the Purple Heart Memorial in Deschenes Park. ''Where are the acknowledgements of misjudging how much people would be deemed to be liberators versus occupiers? . . . My friends, we have read of those troops currently having difficulty getting water, getting other supplies. We've read of the requirements that combat military people are now facing trying to stand police duty and guard duty in a postwar situation that was clearly underestimated -- not by the military personnel, but by the civilian leaders of the military, by the administration itself.''
A spokesman for the Republican National Committee, which responds on behalf of the White House to criticism by the Democratic presidential candidates, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
The speech was a preview of remarks Kerry plans to deliver tomorrow in San Antonio at the national convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Also scheduled to address the group are Rumsfeld and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.
Kerry plans to highlight his background as a combat veteran of Vietnam, as well as the alleged neglect of veterans, as he publicly kicks off his campaign with speeches in South Carolina and Iowa on Sept. 2. Veterans are an active voting bloc, as Republican Senator John S. McCain of Arizona showed with his 2000 presidential campaign, and many of them live in the South, an area Bush swept over Democrat Al Gore in the 2000 general election. Bob Hannan of Dover, who introduced Kerry and serves as chairman of New Hampshire Veterans for Kerry, told the crowd: ''As a New Hampshire Vietnam veteran, I'm volunteering my time to the Kerry campaign for one reason: I want to see a real veteran in the White House, and John Kerry is that real veteran.'' Bush critics allege that he received his assignment to the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War through political influence.Kerry said that 20 percent of today's reservists have no health care, that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved a cut in reservist pay, that the Pentagon supports reductions in combat and family pay for active-duty personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that 150,000 veterans have to wait at least six months to fill prescriptions at Veterans Affairs hospitals. ''We hear a lot of talk today about `values,' but I regret to say we don't see people translating that talk into valuing the true things they talk about,'' Kerry said. ''I regret to say that even as we are creating a new generation of veterans . . . this country and this administration is not keeping faith with those who serve. I don't take pleasure in saying that.''
In an exchange with reporters after his speech, Kerry said the administration's Iraq policy ''has grotesquely misjudged and miscalculated how difficult winning the peace is.'' He called for internationalizing the postwar military force, saying the administration's decision two weeks ago to rebuff an offer of help from the United Nations was ''one of the most egregious decisions that I've heard in recent memory.''
Kerry said the resolution authorizing force could have been reworded to accommodate US needs, ''but it is stubborn, prideful resistance on the part of this administration -- driven by ideology and rigidity -- that is preventing them from making smart decisions that will help protect the troops and win the victory we want.''
Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com
P.S. Roger & Bobby - This One's for You!
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