Posted on 05/08/2004 7:13:39 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) -
Idealistic Americans can help heal the damage from the prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq (news - web sites) by serving on the international aid frontlines with the Peace Corps, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) said on Saturday.
In a commencement address at historically black Southern University in New Orleans, the decorated Vietnam veteran, who came back to the United States an anti-war activist, asked 670 graduates to reject "the cynicism that says you can't make a difference."
"In the last days we've all seen photos of horrific abuses in an Iraqi prison that do a disservice to the courageous efforts of over 100,000 American soldiers," Kerry said. "Those abuses have done enormous damage to our country."
The four-term senator from Massachusetts, who voted for the Iraq war but against $87 billion for operations there and in Afghanistan (news - web sites), said the U.S. soldiers' treatment of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison had harmed U.S. objectives and empowered those who find fault with the United States.
"It requires us to work even harder to present who we really are, and if you choose to, you can help to do that," Kerry said. "The Peace Corps is the most powerful symbol of non-military service in our history."
The presumptive Democratic nominee and Republican President Bush (news - web sites) have both called for expanding the Peace Corps, an enduring legacy of another senator from Massachusetts, former President John F. Kennedy.
In his 2005 budget, Bush asked Congress for $401 million for the Peace Corps, up from its current $300 million.
More than 7,000 Americans now serve in the Peace Corps, according to its Web Site. They work in 71 countries in projects related to agriculture, health, information technology, business development, the environment and education.
"If there was ever a time when everyday people in the most deprived countries, cities and villages of the world need to see idealistic Americans working to help them, it is today, when we are engaged in a struggle to win the hearts and minds of people everywhere," Kerry said.
The uproar that has followed the release of photographs of U.S. soldiers humiliating naked Iraqi prisoners requires Americans to work even harder "to present who we really are," he told the graduates.
Kerry has called for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to resign and for Bush, as commander in chief, to demand accountability and take full responsibility.
In a speech that focused on values and opportunity, Kerry acknowledged the reluctance of many young people to enter public service, but said he was convinced that could be turned around.
"I know that many of you may be skeptical, and I don't blame you," he said. "It's hard to find faith and answer the call of citizenship and service when you believe today's call to arms may be tomorrow's broken promise."
At least one of Kerry's own proposals to encourage young Americans to make a difference -- a $3.5 billion "service-for-college" initiative that would offer students the equivalent of their state's four-year public college tuition in exchange for two years of service -- will be scaled back because of the ballooning federal budget deficit.
Idealistic Americans can help heal damage from the Iraqi prisoner scandal by serving on the international aid frontlines with the U.S. Peace Corps, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites) said May 8, 2004. Kerry (D-Mass.) speaks to supporters at the Democratic Leadership Council's National Conversation at the Arizona Biltmore resort in Phoenix, Arizona, May 7. (Jeff Topping/Reuters)
You think?
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), D-Mass., speaks during a campaign stop at Colton High School, Thursday, May 6, 2004, in San Bernardino, California. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
I'll browse it and watch what Kerry plays on this week.
In the meantime, this is from the forward:
"Each of them had some principal or idea which he believed in; and when the time came, each of them chose to act according to his beliefs even though to do so meant unpopularity and criticism and often defeat in elections. That is why it is called Profiles In Courage. For it takes great courage to do what you think is right........."
I think that has to be the most ridiculous thing I've heard this loser say.
HELLO!!!!!! Just in case you haven't noticed Ketchup Boy, there is a Friggin War going on over there you F'n Dufis
U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) reads from a newspaper while talking to reporters on Capitol Hill, May 6, 2004. U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) on Wednesday asked Congress for an additional $25 billion to fund military operations in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites), breaking a pledge not to seek more money before the November election. REUTERS/Larry Downing
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