Posted on 12/09/2004 11:24:43 AM PST by areafiftyone
WASHINGTON - Former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) will travel to Iraq (news - web sites) next month as the war-torn country prepares for elections.
The Massachusetts senator, who lost his bid for the presidency in November, is expected to visit several Middle East countries, with the focus on the situation in Iraq and the war on terror.
A decorated Vietnam War veteran, Kerry also plans to meet with U.S. troops, including some from Massachusetts, to thank them for their services, spokeswoman April Boyd said Thursday.
During the campaign, Kerry criticized President Bush (news - web sites)'s handling of the Iraq war. Although Kerry voted in October 2002 to give Bush the authority to wage war, he later voted against additional funds for Iraq and Afghanistan (news - web sites) reconstruction, arguing that the commander in chief didn't have a solid plan to restore peace.
Kerry is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
In addition to his Iraq trip, Kerry will take time during the holidays to host events in Massachusetts and Iowa in which he will thank his campaign supporters. He travels to Iowa on Friday.
Kerry's solo overseas trip comes after several senators endured a harrowing flight out of Baghdad, and amid increased security concerns as violence there continues to escalate.
Last week, a group of senators, including Sen. Lincoln Chafee (news, bio, voting record), R-R.I., traveled to Iraq and found conditions far more dangerous than during a similar trip a year ago. Chafee described a frightening helicopter flight out of Baghdad as the aircraft weaved to avoid enemy fire.
The Iraqi elections are scheduled for Jan. 30 and will be the first popular vote since Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s ouster.
Sounds like it! Whew!
Lincoln Chafee my nominee for this years up class twit of the year contest.
And Dianne Feinstein comes in second. She was going on about the C-130 she was on taking "evasive measures" and she was "seeing flashes of light" through the portholes. (I can't see a dang thing through the portholes on a C-130 from where we sit on those benches and the "evasive measures" were probably just the standard combat takeoff or landing.)
Whadda bunch of grandstanders. Anything to get their mugs on TV.
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