Kerry: The Man in the Mirror

REPORT:
Democratic presidential hopeful John F. Kerry knows a political opportunity when he sees one.

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Wednesday that the Bush administration's response to abuse of Iraqi prisoners by some U.S. soldiers has been ``slow and inappropriate.''

``I think the world needs to hear from the president that the United States of America regrets any kind of abuse of this kind or any kind of effort like this,'' Kerry said at his first news conference in three weeks. ``Because we have to show the world that we're willing to correct our own mistakes.''

The Massachusetts senator spoke to reporters on the same day that Bush told television stations broadcast to the Arab world that the treatment of Iraqi prisoners was ``abhorrent'' but stopped short of apologizing.

Bush said there will be investigations and individuals will be brought to justice. Kerry echoed the call for an investigation and declined to say that an apology is needed pending the outcome.

``The president of the United States needs to offer the world an explanation and needs to take appropriate responsibility,'' he said. ``And if that includes apologizing for the behavior of those soldiers and what happened, then we ought to do that.''

FOR THE SAKE OF ARGUMENT:
I think we should listen to Kerry when he speaks of abuses relating to our enemies, as he knows a thing or two about the subject.

MEET THE PRESS, April 18, 1971):

MR. KERRY (Vietnam Veterans Against the War): There are all kinds of atrocities and I would have to say that, yes, yes, I committed the same kind of atrocities as thousands of other soldiers have committed in that I took part in shootings in free-fire zones. I conducted harassment and interdiction fire. I used 50-caliber machine guns which we were granted and ordered to use, which were our only weapon against people. I took part in search-and-destroy missions, in the burning of villages. All of this is contrary to the laws of warfare. All of this is contrary to the Geneva Conventions and all of this ordered as a matter of written established policy by the government of the United States from the top down. And I believe that the men who designed these, the men who designed the free-fire zone, the men who ordered us, the men who signed off the air raid strike areas, I think these men, by the letter of the law, the same letter of the law that tried Lieutenant Calley, are war criminals.

No word on whether Kerry likewise seeks an investigation into his admitted atrocities in Vietnam.

What's your point? He didn't dodge the draft, and he followed orders. Kerry worked to end the war when he got back. Now he's still saying that we shouldn't violate the Geneva conventions. I see a good bit of snide insinuation, and not a lot of actual arguement in this post.

I agree, what's the point of this article? Kerry's attendance in the military branch he served in isn't questionable, and he didn't have "better things to do in the 60s than fight in Vietnam". But of course, if one never takes part in a cause, how can they ever be accused of any wrongdoing? Kerry went to war and dealt with the emotional and mental baggage that inevitably go along with that.

So you tell me which is better, leaders who know first hand of the horror of war, which they're sending thousands of courageous men and women to deal with and possibly die for (during which innocent people WILL also die), or leaders who either weren't present or had other things to do. Rhetoric only goes so far, people; eventually you have to actually think about issues.