[Peace-discuss] kerry and vets

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

The question is whether or not he will stop this madness.







Kerry Rallies Veterans for Support
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
 
Filed at 8:07 p.m. ET

MANCHESTER, N.H.(AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on 
Friday sought to energize fellow veterans, enlisting the help of two decorated 
former military men and assailing Bush administration policies to service members.

Surging in the polls and looking to maintain his momentum, the Massachusetts 
senator also picked up the endorsement of former Vice President Walter 
Mondale, the Democratic Party's 1984 nominee, who called Kerry ``the strongest 
candidate to win and this is going to be a very tough race for Democrats.''

Mondale knows about tough contests. He suffered a decisive loss to Ronald 
Reagan in 1984, losing the electoral vote 525-13.

Kerry's momentum was continuing to build over the weekend. He's scheduled to 
receive the formal endorsement of the League of Conservation Voters on 
Saturday during an event in Concord.

``John Kerry is a man whose unparalleled record on environmental issues has 
earned him an extraordinary rating,'' league president Deb Callahan said in 
prepared remarks.

Most of the major Democratic candidates, as well as Kerry, tout their 
positions on the environment and blast Bush on the issue. The League of Conservation 
Voters will be the first major environmental group to endorse one of the 
Democrats.

In a rally packed with celebrity veterans, Kerry argued Friday that the tough 
talk coming from the Bush administration masks an indifference to the real 
needs of veterans.

The campaign released a letter Kerry wrote to Defense Secretary Donald 
Rumsfeld warning that thousands of soldiers on active duty must wait for health 
care, even as the largest rotation of U.S forces is under way.

``There is nothing more important than the care and well-being of our 
troops,'' Kerry said in the letter. ``They have earned this care and we must not fail 
them.''

Kerry spoke to several hundred backers at a rally featuring South Carolina 
Sen. Ernest Hollings, a World War II veteran who endorsed Kerry on Thursday, and 
former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland, a triple amputee and decorated veteran of 
the Vietnam War.

Kerry argues that his record as a decorated veteran gives him the credibility 
to challenge President Bush on national security issues, a position he played 
to the hilt on Friday.

``He's been here, done that and gotten a few holes in his T-shirt,'' Cleland 
said.

Pentagon officials have warned that with the massive deployment of troops, 
Veterans Administration medical facilities will be strained. Kerry said that up 
to 40,000 veterans are already in line for health services and that problems 
were bound to grow worse with the deployment in Iraq.

``We need to renew our promise to keep faith with America's veterans, and it 
needs to start now,'' he said.

Hollings touted his decades of service in the Senate with Kerry and took a 
veiled swipe at the only other candidate who served in the military, retired 
Army Gen. Wesley Clark.

``We're going to teach that fellow in South Carolina that there are more 
lieutenants than there are generals,'' Hollings said.

Clark had caused a minor campaign flap when we referred to Kerry as a junior 
officer not involved in serious policy issues.

Hollings dismissed worries that Kerry won't fare well in the South.

``We took South Carolina for Kennedy, don't worry about it,'' Hollings said.

Kerry skipped his normal stump speech for an emotion-driven remembrance of 
his days in uniform. He said real patriotism is far different from simply waving 
the flag.

``The first definition of patriotism is keeping faith with those who have 
worn the uniform of the country,'' he said.

Cleland opened a three-day swing around New Hampshire for Kerry, while Kerry 
settled into a routine of retail politicking on the final weekend before the 
leadoff New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.

At his veterans event, Kerry complained that arcane laws essentially force 
disabled veterans to sacrifice a portion of their pension, pledging to rectify 
that inequity.

``Effectively, veterans are paying for their own pensions,'' he said.

He was referring to the 19th century policy of reducing disabled veterans' 
retirement benefits by $1 for every dollar received in disability pay. President 
Bush signed legislation partially reversing that policy, implementing a 
change that would be phased in over 10 years and mainly help the more seriously 
disabled -- about a quarter-million veterans. It will cost $22 billion.

^------

Associated Press Writer Brian Bakst in St. Paul, Minn., contributed to this 
report. .