Posted on 12/12/2006 7:19:18 PM PST by jdm
(AP) WASHINGTON Sen. John Kerry, whose botched joke about U.S. troops in Iraq dealt a blow to his presidential ambitions, will travel to Iraq this weekend to meet with soldiers, political leaders and military officials.
"I've talked to plenty of guys who've come back from Iraq, who are there now, who understand exactly what happened," Kerry said of his joke in a telephone interview Tuesday with The Associated Press. "They laugh at it."
The Iraq stop will be part of a nine-day Mideast trip that includes stops in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Israel.
A week before the midterm elections, Kerry told a group of California students that individuals who don't study hard and do their homework would likely "get stuck in Iraq." He said he meant to say "get us stuck in Iraq," but the botched joke intended to criticize President Bush forced the senator to apologize and then lay low for the remaining days of the campaign.
The Massachusetts senator, who was widely criticized for the quip, said he'd be happy to apologize to any soldiers he encounters in Iraq who don't understand what happened.
"For anybody who misunderstood (the joke) or got only the White House presentation of it, I'd apologize, obviously," he said.
Kerry will spend the latter part of his trip with a potential presidential rival and fellow member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut. Sen. John McCain of Arizona, considered the Republican front-runner in the 2008 race, also plans a trip to Iraq.
I hope he gets a boot to the head.
What kind of a "joke" was it, when he got lower grades than Bush did?
This pompous ass thinks he can lie his way out of insult by calling it a joke which wouldn't be funny, even if remotely based in truth.
He's a damn liar, has no sense of humor, and jokes are over his head. I'm sure he'll demand gourmet food delivered to his hotel room, just like he did on the campaign trail after pretending to eat at a Wendy's or to get "one of them huntin' licenses."
What an absolute fraud.
A straw poll posted here this week at McCain near or at the bottom.
The dumb f*ck still doesn't get it does he?
Oh, this will be fun to watch!
Perhaps Kerry should take Reyes on a fact-finding mission. Maybe they can find some Shia al Qaeda to interview?
Guess he didn't see the banner in Iraq mocking him after his idiot remarks.
PR trip; he knows he's sunk and has one last hope. That is, a successful PR trip with the troops.
Dude, the Ketchup Boy is running! We'd better hope he beats Her Thighness in the primaries, or it Hello Fourth Reich once again!
ROFLMAO!!!!
Thickest skull on earth.
Maybe they do, and maybe youre lying.
I agree. I call him the liar of liars. Every word out of his mouth is a LIE.
It's actually a secret trip. President Nixon is sending him.
Does this mean our soldiers have to take valuable time out of their work days to protect him?
Pity the poor troops that have to do the photo ops with him!
He'll probably seek out a Reserve group from Mass. Maybe they show the secret middle finger message in the photos(ala the soldier with Hillary on T-Day a few years ago).
I hope he gets an earful! Troops should turn their back to him wherever possible.
If he's there on Christmas, maybe he'll have a flashback of being in Cambodia.
Or he can give them advice on how to get medals with no flesh wounds? I'd love for some guy to ask him if the the three Purple Heart rule is still in effect.
"What can I say? I'm a dork! I am stuck being a dork and I don't know how to get out of it."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.