| Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry missed an opportunity in his speech late Thursday to convey to the American public what his plans are for Iraq and the future of the US economy, leading US dailies said Friday. In economics as in national security, “Mr Kerry missed an opportunity for straight talk,” said The Washington Post, criticizing the Massachusetts senator for avoiding “the charged question of whether, as president, he would have gone to war in Iraq. “He offered not a word to celebrate the freeing of Afghans from the Taliban, or Iraqis from Saddam Hussein, and not a word about helping either nation toward democracy,” added the Washington daily. Equally critical of Kerry’s failure to “provide a clear vision on Iraq,” The New York Times said voters needed to hear that his support of President George W Bush’s decision to go to war “was a mistake.” “It’s clear now that Mr Kerry isn’t going to go there, and it’s a shame,” the editorial added. USA Today welcomed Kerry’s assurances that he would not hesitate to use force to protect national security and that he would keep up the fight against terrorism. “But the real question is what creative options Kerry sees both for stabilizing Iraq and for pursuing the broader confrontation with Islamic nationalism and its terrorist advocates,” said the daily, sharing the disappointment of the other papers in Kerry’s lack of clarity. reuters |
