CHARLESTON, W. Va., 18 March 2004 — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry yesterday marked the first anniversary of the war in Iraq by criticizing the Bush administration for stubbornly holding to failed policies that drive away potential allies at the cost of lives and money “with no end in sight.”
“Today we know that the mission is not finished, hostilities have not ended, and our men and women in uniform fight on almost alone with the target squarely on their backs,” Kerry said in remarks prepared for delivery in Washington at George Washington University. “Every day they face danger and death from suicide bombers, roadside bombers, and now, ironically, from the very Iraqi police they are training.”
Kerry said Bush’s use of the armed services has been reckless and has left the military spread far too thin, and he called for a more focused use of the military.
“We are still bogged down in Iraq and the administration stubbornly holds to failed policies that drive potential allies away. What we have seen is a steady loss of lives and mounting cost in dollars with no end in sight,” he said. “The lesson here is fundamental: At times, conflict comes, and the decision must be made. For a president, the decision may be lonely, but that does not mean that America should go it alone.”
The invasion of Iraq began March 19, 2003. The Bush administration was marking the anniversary with a series of speeches contending that overthrowing Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had made the world safer. The president’s re-election campaign also was renewing its criticism of Kerry’s foreign policy and his vote against funds for the war.
Kerry was proposing a “Military Families Bill of Rights” for fully funded health care and other benefits for veterans, faulting Bush for failing to uphold promises to those who served in the armed forces. He was to be joined during the speech in Washington by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Defense Secretary William Perry.
Contending veterans were “the neglected soldiers of America,” Kerry said proposals by the Bush administration would drive 500,000 veterans from the health care system of the Veterans Administration by 2005.
“America entered into a covenant with those it drafted and those who enlisted, but the truth is that with every story of a veteran who goes without adequate health care every day, that covenant is broken,” he said. “There are countless veterans who fought our wars who are now fighting year after year for the benefits they earned.”
Kerry, a decorated Navy veteran of the Vietnam War, said supporting veterans touches on the character of the nation and its people. “To me, guaranteeing these rights and organizing our armed forces accordingly is personal, it is in my soul and it’s been a large part of my life,” he said.
The speech was part of Kerry’s effort to cast his campaign in terms of his war-hero background and, at the same time, deflect criticism over his vote in the Senate against an $87 billion funding bill for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also has been criticized for his assertion that some foreign leaders hope he defeats Bush in November.
Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have joined Republicans demanding that Kerry identify the leaders, but Kerry has refused. Last week, Kerry ignored calls from the Bush-Cheney campaign and other GOP leaders to apologize for describing his critics in the party as “the most crooked...lying group I’ve ever seen.”
Every time Kerry is pressed to answer charges, whether by Republicans or reporters, is time spent off his message that he’s fighting for working families on bread-and-butter issues like jobs and health care.
“Obviously, any day that we’re not talking about the sluggish economy is a day that John Kerry is not talking about what he wants to talk about,” veteran Democratic consultant George Shelton said Tuesday. “It’s preventing him from talking about what he wants to talk about.”
As Kerry campaigned in West Virginia on Tuesday, Bush’s re-election campaign released a new television ad targeted to the state. The ad said Kerry was “wrong on defense” for not supporting bills that would have ensured troops had body armor and higher combat pay and given reservists and their families better health care. Kerry called it a distortion.
West Virginia has 203,000 veterans, 15.4 percent of its adult population. Kerry brought to the state several members of swift boats he commanded in Vietnam.
On Tuesday night, Kerry celebrated a victory in the Illinois primary, in which he was practically uncontested.
