Posted by
Team Turk on Thursday, November 02, 2006 5:40:33 PM
From United Press International:
U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., Wednesday attempted to repair the damage from a "botched joke" that wound up insulting U.S. troops.
On Monday, Kerry told students in Pasadena, Calif., if they didn't value their education, they would end up "stuck in Iraq," which President George Bush promptly seized on in a speech in Georgia, where he called the remark "insulting" and "shameful."
Kerry issued a statement Wednesday saying he wanted to make it clear he did not intend to insult any of the men and women in uniform.
"I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended," Kerry said in a statement.
"It is clear the Republican Party would rather talk about anything but their failed security policy. I don't want my verbal slip to be a diversion from the real issues. I will continue to fight for a change of course to provide real security for our country, and a winning strategy for our troops."