Full Coverages>World>US Election
   
 

Kerry: Iraq trip possible, not on 'front burner'
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-03-08 10:16

Democratic White House candidate John Kerry on Sunday left open the possibility of making a trip to Iraq before the Nov. 2 presidential election but said he wanted to avoid any "sense of politicization."

The four-term Massachusetts senator and decorated Vietnam War veteran said he would prefer to have a group of Congressional colleagues -- Democrats and Republicans -- assess the situation in Iraq to help him formulate policy.

"I don't have the power to 'send' people, but as a U.S. senator and the essential nominee of the party ... I do have a responsibility to get the best information possible," he told reporters in Jackson.

On a Southern swing through four states -- Mississippi, Florida, Texas and Louisiana -- that hold nominating contests on Tuesday -- Kerry blamed U.S. President Bush for America's "torn and tattered" international ties over Iraq and "a Grand Canyon of a credibility gap" on jobs, health care, education and the environment.

After winning nine out of a possible 10 states last Tuesday, Kerry drove his last major competitor, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, out of the race. He said he planned to meet with Edwards and one-time Democratic front-runner Howard Dean. Aides said the session with Dean would probably take place this week in Washington.

Kerry, who voted for the war in Iraq but has since been highly critical of the way the president conducted it, said he wanted an assessment by "people that I trust" with the experience and knowledge "to make some judgments as to where we are today" in Iraq.

Asked if he would go to Iraq, Kerry replied: "That's a possibility and it's something that's been discussed, but the time's difficult and the logistics may be difficult and I don't want any sense of politicization in that regard."

REPUBLICANS' PORTRAYAL

Bush and his Republican allies have portrayed Kerry as a Northeastern liberal elitist, a chronic waffler and fence-sitter. They cite his votes against the 1991 Gulf war, for the U.S.-led invasion last year that ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and against Bush's $87 billion request for reconstruction.

"My first instinct is really not to go," Kerry said. "My first instinct is to try to have a group of respected people do this because they have to anyway in the course of Congressional business."

But he did not rule out his own trip to Iraq, adding: "It's just not on the front burner right now."

At the Greater Bethlehem Temple, a Pentecostal church in downtown Jackson, Kerry evoked the spirit of the civil rights era, telling worshipers: "We have an unfinished journey. That march for civil rights is not over."

Quoting the Bible and marking the 39th anniversary of a civil rights landmark, "Bloody Sunday," Kerry recalled powerful images of billy clubs and tear gas used by Alabama state troopers who forcefully broke up a group of 600 civil rights marchers.

The March 7, 1965, event was televised and the brutality of the images helped sway opinion in America in favor of the civil rights movement.

Kerry questioned Bush's credibility, saying the campaign would be a test "to see how much we really remember the words of the scripture, 'What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?"'

He also met head on the criticism of him as a Massachusetts liberal.

"You've lived with the attacks, the distortions and the hollowness of a politics of last resort that divides black from white, rich from poor, Massachusetts from Mississippi," he told the 2,000 strong congregation. "In fact, some people just want us pointing fingers at each other. The reason they do that is so that no one points a finger at them."

 
  Story Tools  
   
 
     
主站蜘蛛池模板: 日韩亚洲人成在线综合| 精品久久人人做人人爽综合| 国产精品美女久久久久av超清 | 久久99精品久久久久久园产越南 | 国产一区免费视频| 黑人巨大精品欧美一区二区免费 | 97无码免费人妻超级碰碰夜夜| 尹人香蕉久久99天天拍久女久| 久久久www免费人成精品| 星空无限传媒好闺蜜2| 亚洲免费观看在线视频| 欧美激情一区二区三区| 亚洲综合久久精品无码色欲| 男女免费观看在线爽爽爽视频| 午夜小视频在线| 色一情一乱一伦一区二区三区 | 四虎影永久在线观看网址| 青草青草久热精品视频在线观看 | 欧洲美熟女乱又伦免费视频| 亚洲最大免费视频网| 波多野结衣乱码中文字幕| 少妇高潮无套内谢麻豆传| 四虎国产在线观看| 风间由美中出黑人| 国产性夜夜春夜夜爽1a片| 久碰人澡人澡人澡人澡人视频| 国产精品久久女同磨豆腐| 69精品久久久久| 国产羞羞视频在线观看| 91成人精品视频| 国产高清在线精品一区二区三区| 99在线精品视频在线观看| 大又大粗又爽又黄少妇毛片| a资源在线观看| 夜月高清免费在线观看| aa视频在线观看| 在线视频国产99| 99久久99这里只有免费费精品| 在线资源天堂www| 91精品国产三级在线观看| 国产高清av在线播放|