May 2006

CAMPUS NEWS

photo by Jeff Watts

Senator Kerry Calls for Patriotism, Pushes for Troops to Come Home

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry called for nonpartisan patriotism in his address to a full house at the Kay Spiritual Life Center on May 11. He said patriotism is reflected in one’s love of his or her country, and this sense of pride doesn’t belong solely “to those who defend a president’s position.”

The former Democratic presidential candidate, who lost to President George W. Bush by 35 electoral votes in the 2004 election, alerted the crowd that current governmental policies and actions have the power to weaken the United States’ credibility domestically and globally, thereby possibly lessening its power and prestige. “We are imprisoned in a failed policy,” Kerry said.

Dissent about the war in Iraq should not go unheard nor dismissed as being unpatriotic, said Kerry. Americans’ right to free speech includes the right to disagree and be heard, he told the crowd. “Dissent is the highest form of patriotism,” he said, quoting Thomas Jefferson.

The Vietnam veteran admitted the United States’ involvement in Iraq is not the same scenario as when he was a soldier; however, he was quick to point out some clear similarities: political leaders are sending young Americans into war for a strategy that is unlikely to accomplish the mission, and remaining there even though it is time to pull the troops out. Kerry also suggested that, like Vietnam, America went into Iraq “to fight a larger global war under the misperception that the particular theatre was just a sideshow,” but it soon became apparent that Iraq was not just a stop on the road to a much larger fight.

Kerry outlined his vision for a U.S. troop withdrawal in a timely, strategic manner that would allow Iraq to get “up on its own two feet.” This, and nearly a dozen other comments urging for reconsidering the United States’ current policy on Iraq, brought applause from the audience of AU students, faculty, and staff.

photo by Jeff Watts

He suggested that a summit—including Iraqi leaders, NATO, the UN, the EU, and others—convene “to forge the comprehensive political solution that is necessary to bring stability to Iraq” in order to give the country a higher possibility for peace and security in the future. Kerry demanded that a deadline be set “for Iraqis to run Iraq and bring our troops home.”

The senator also challenged Americans to hold the Bush administration accountable by taking action and demanding improvements in policies that affect Americans across the board, relating to employment, health care, the budget, environment, and education, among others.

Sen. Kerry closed by encouraging Americans to speak out so loudly about various issues that the government can’t help but hear. Issues such as being independent of Mideast oil, ending the division of “red states and blue states” in America, and increasing the knowledge of our future leaders by making college affordable for everyone willing to work hard enough to attend. Get up, go out, and “make it right today,” Kerry urged.

-Tara Shlimowitz '08 and Melissa Reichley

Back to newsletter