Kerry in Iowa Boosted by Vietnam Past

[Feanorcurufinwe]

John Kerry, playing heavily to veterans, war and foreign policy issues, was boosted on Saturday by a man whose life he saved in Vietnam 35 years ago as Iowa's hotly contested Democratic presidential caucuses neared.

Kerry's campaign said the former Green Beret, whom he pulled from the BayHap River in 1969 in an act that won him the Bronze Star, would be reunited with the Massachusetts senator later in the day for the first time since the rescue and the two would campaign together. The announcement said that Kerry, who returned from that war as activist opponent to it, had not been touch with him but that the man contacted his campaign headquarters on Friday and volunteered to help.

<snip>

At least one man in the crowd told Kerry his answers had brought him into his camp.

"Is John Kerry different? How do I know I can trust him, not just the words of a campaign? What you need to do is look at the totality of my experience in life," he said. He spoke at length of health care problems facing veterans in response to a woman who said her husband was totally disabled as a result of the Vietnam War, and said Veterans should be given an interchangeable "gold card" that would allow then to receive treatment at any medical facility.

He continued to attack President Bush over the Iraq war, saying his actions had isolated the country from the world community. "This administration is leading America in a radically wrong direction ... and the one person who deserves to be laid off is George Bush," he said. His own Senate vote for the measure that ultimately led to the war, he said, was not a matter of voting for war but for a process in which war was to have been only the last resort.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=4152540

I had to post this because, finally, a sound-bite sized answer from Kerry on why he voted for the IWR. "not a matter of voting for war but for a process in which war was to have been only the last resort" expresses perfectly what I spent two hours explaining in an email to a friend the other day. Well I guess that's one reason I'm not running for President.

[Democrats unite]

1. Kerry is a great man...

& it makes me sick that these holier than thou (I won't vote for anyone who voted for the war), they voted on what information they were given at the time & what had just happened to America. I don't fault them for any of it I fault the Fucking liar Bush & until some people witout a clue figure that out...

[wtmusic]

2. That's a laugh

What process was it that Kerry voted for? Kerry voted to abdicate the constitutional responsibility to provide a check to the power of the executive branch.

That process would have prevented the war whether the president was lying or not.

BTW, is Kerry for or against the war today?

Whatever way the wind blows... :eyes:

[Democrats unite]

3. What garbage!

"Whereas on September 12, 2002, President Bush committed the United States to `work with the United Nations Security Council to meet our common challenge' posed by Iraq and to `work for the necessary resolutions,' while also making clear that `the Security Council resolutions will be enforced, and the just demands of peace and security will be met, or action will be unavoidable';"

This pretty much sums up the war resoulution. "while also making clear that `the Security Council resolutions" Congress had no control over Bush not doing what was in the resolution!

[wtmusic]

4. There is no security council resolution

that authorizes going to war unilaterally.

[Democrats unite]

5. Thats my point!

There wasn't one and Congress authorized Bush to follow U.N. Security resolutions. So how is this the fault of those in Congress?

On edit: If you read the resolution from Congress you will see that they gave Bush strick guidelins that he didn't follow.

[wtmusic]

8. A bus could drive through

the holes in that resolution.

How about 'the just demands of peace and security' being met?

Does Kerry support the war now? I have yet to hear a straight answer out of him.

[Democrats unite]

9. Well if we had a Democratic Congress...

You have to work with what you have.

[Leilani]

6. Just witnessed this reunion

of Kerry & the man who's life he saved in 1969. It was very touching, they hadn't seen each other since Vietnam. This man was a Green Beret, & he's a Republican, but he said he's voting for Kerry because he tells you the truth & you can trust him.

I am a Clark supporter, but I admire John Kerry very much. I will work for Clark, but if Kerry wins the nomination, I will support him in a heartbeat.

For several days Kerry's campaign ran some stuff against Clark, which I was not happy with. However, I don't think he was comfortable with it, because he always said Clark was his friend &Clark was a good man.

Anyway, this reunion was wonderful & touched me very much.

[maddezmom]

7. it was very emotional

John Kerry did a great job keeping it together.