Kerry: New president will be needed after war
By Holly Ramer, Associated Press, 4/2/2003 15:10
PETERBOROUGH, N.H. (AP) Regardless of how successful the United States is in waging war against Iraq, it will take a new president to rebuild the country's damaged relationships with the rest of the world, Sen. John Kerry said Wednesday.
Kerry spoke briefly and answered questions from voters who packed into the Peterborough Town Library basement to hear the Democratic presidential hopeful's views on everything from education to the economy. But much of the focus was on the war, and Kerry's criticism of President Bush's diplomatic efforts leading up to it.
The Massachusetts senator has long said Saddam Hussein must be disarmed and removed from power, and he voted to give President Bush the authority to strike Iraq. But he has strongly criticized Bush for his actions leading to the war, saying the president should have given diplomacy more time and his failure to do so has alienated America's allies.
''Because of the depth of this breach, because of the anger that exists with many countries and their leaders ... I don't think they're going to trust this president no matter what,'' Kerry said.
Kerry said he would heal relations with other countries by approaching the United Nations with an aggressive plan to make the United States a leader on international, environmental and health issues without ceding its right to defend itself.
''I believe we can have a golden age of American diplomacy,'' he said. He also defended his support of the USA Patriot Act which broadened the government's powers to shut down terrorist financiers and money launderers and the resolution giving Bush the authority to go to war against criticism that the measures eroded American civil liberties.
He also said he looks forward to appointing an attorney general who reads and abides by the constitution of the United States.
Jim Grant, whose Peterborough company offers training for teachers, asked Kerry about Bush's ''No Child Left Behind'' education law, calling it an unfounded mandate that will open the door to widespread use of school vouchers.
Kerry agreed, saying that the solution is fixing public schools, not building charter schools or using vouchers to allow children to be transferred. ''You can't build charter schools fast enough for an entire generation,'' he said. |
