Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry delivered his sharpest attack yet on President George W. Bush's Iraq war strategy during a speech Wednesday to the American Legion, the largest veterans' organization in the United States, held in Nashville, Tennessee.
Kerry argued that Bush had mishandled the post-war period, citing failures to prevent looting, secure borders, and counter a growing insurgency after Saddam Hussein's fall. He contended the administration ignored bipartisan congressional warnings and military advice, and entered the conflict without a coherent plan for stabilizing the country afterward.
The senator also seized on Bush's recent televised remarks suggesting the war on terror could not be won. Bush had appeared before the same convention a day earlier to walk back that position. Kerry flatly disagreed with the original statement, insisting the conflict was winnable with sound policy.
Political analysts noted Kerry had spent several weeks on the defensive, responding to advertisements by a group of Vietnam veterans who challenged his military record. His Nashville address largely set aside that controversy and refocused his campaign on the Iraq conflict and Bush's wartime decisions.
Kerry summed up his position plainly: "I would have done almost everything differently."
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in September 2004, in its own words.