Yahoo! News – Kerry Says He Wouldn’t Be ‘Last to Know’
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news – web sites) said Thursday if he were president he would not be “the last to know what is going on in my command,” a criticism of the Bush administration’s handling of reports of abuse of prisoners held by U.S. forces in Iraq.
“These despicable actions have endangered the lives of our soldiers and, frankly, have made their mission harder to accomplish,” Kerry said during a campaign appearance at a California high school. “We cannot succeed in Iraq by abandoning the values that define America.”
In a Rose Garden appearance shortly after Kerry’s remarks, President Bush (news – web sites) apologized for the abuse and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners. Bush had called the abuse abhorrent in recent days but had stopped short of an apology.
Later, at a fund-raiser in Phoenix, Kerry singled out Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. The Massachusetts senator, who called for Rumsfeld to step down months ago over his handling of the Iraq war, said the abuse reports compounded the situation.
“Rumsfeld and company made huge miscalculations about what it would take and the numbers of killings and what was involved, even though many of us were saying at the time that it’s not winning the war that’s difficult, it’s winning the peace,” Kerry told his donors.
“Obviously with the images on television in the last few days, all of us are recoiling in horror at a looseness of command, at an arrogance of implementation, at a tin ear to the realities of what it takes to move a Middle Eastern nation towards democracy,” Kerry said. “And we’re paying an enormous price in the blood of young Americans and in the dollars out of the tax pocket of Americans.”
In an interview with Phoenix television station KNXV, Kerry said it will take more than an apology to correct the damage in Iraq, which he said includes a failure of diplomacy and arrogance in U.S. policy.
“There’s a lot of work to be done to make this up, and I think it’s going to take a new president,” he said.
“As president, I will not be the last to know what is going on in my command,” Kerry said. “I will demand accountability for those who serve and I will take responsibility for their actions. And I will do everything that I can in my power to repair the damage that this has caused to America to our standing in the world and to the ideals for which we stand.”
Kerry said he learned in the Navy that the captain was in charge and took responsibility. He cited President Kennedy’s public statement after the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 that “I’m the responsible officer of the government.”
“Today, I have a message for the men and women of our armed forces. As commander in chief, I will honor your commitment and I will take responsibility for the bad as well as the good,” Kerry said.
Kerry said Bush should be able to persuade other nations to help in Iraq.
“All over this planet, people have an interest in the outcome of Iraq, but they’re not there,” he said in Phoenix. “And one of the reasons they’re not there is that this administration is more interested in protecting Haliburton than it is in including other people in the reconstruction.”
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