John Kerry gave this week’s Democratic radio address. Audio available here, and the prepared text follows:
Good morning, I’m John Kerry from Massachusetts and I am pleased to deliver the Democratic radio address today.
Earlier this week, I had the privilege of standing with four soldiers who served in Iraq. They are smart, brave, dedicated young men who volunteered for duty, followed orders, served with distinction, and believed in their mission when they deployed to Iraq.
Today, they have grown disillusioned. The war they fought to protect the world from Iraq’s imagined weapons of mass destruction ended a long time ago. Saddam Hussein is dead. Now, Iraq is immersed in a bloody civil war — and too often the brave men and women who wear the uniform of our country are paying the highest price.
Men like Brian Freeman, an energetic and promising 31-year old Army captain who told me that his men struggled to carry out a mission they never trained for and weren’t equipped to fight. This West Point graduate, who died in combat shortly after we met, was the kind of leader who was born to lead men in battle. Freeman, like many soldiers in Iraq, was conflicted – torn between his desire to serve and succeed and to achieve victory but frustrated with the lack of clarity in their mission.
Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut and I met Captain Freeman in Baghdad right before Christmas. He was heading back to the states for a few days to see his wife and his two children – a boy and a baby girl. After a short visit, he shipped back to Iraq. Two weeks later, he was gone – killed in a frenzy of bullets and grenades while defending his fellow soldiers from insurgents who tricked their way past a checkpoint.
Captain Freeman’s loss, his valor in battle and his noble service to our country remind us of the human toll in Iraq – and it reminds us of the solemn obligation we have to get the policy right in Iraq.
Make no mistake: every member of Congress supports our troops. We all honor the brave men and women who have always protected us and do so today. But the best way to pay tribute to their willingness to serve is to make sure they have everything they need both in battle and after they return. This administration isn’t doing that. (more…)