The National Commander of The American Legion, the largest veterans organization in the US, has called on Sen. John Kerry to apologize for suggesting that American troops in Iraq are uneducated.
According to WCBS News in New York, Commander Paul A. Morin said "as a constituent of Senator Kerry’s I am disappointed. As leader of The American Legion, I am outraged.”
Senator Kerry told students at Pasadena City College, "you know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
“The senator’s false and outrageous attack was over-the-top and he should apologize now,” Morin said. “A generation ago, Sen. Kerry slandered his comrades in Vietnam by saying that they were rapists and murderers. It wasn’t true then and his warped view of today’s heroes isn’t true now.”
Commander Morin also said while the Legion and Senator Kerry both agree on the importance of education, "the troops in Iraq represent the most sophisticated, technologically superior military that the world has ever seen.”
“I think there is a thing or two that they could teach most college professors and campus elitists about the way the world works," he said.
The American Legion has 2.7-million members.
"I believe Kerry expresses the true feelings of his comrades in the Democrat Party. They look down on soldiers, sailors, Marines, police officers and others who risk their lives for Americans. To the Democrats, these men and women are uneducated chumps," accuses GOP political analyst Mike Baker.
"Not all of us can marry into money twice like Kerry. Some of us have to earn honest livings and what better way than being a soldier or a cop," said former NYPD detective and US Marine Sid Francis.
Vice President of the 14,000-member National Association of Chiefs of Police, Jim Kouri, added, "Kerry's education sure doesn't prevent him from saying stupid and ridiculous things. I hope voters in November will remember he's one of the leaders of the party that is chomping at the bit to gain control of the Congress and Senate."
"As far as education, our military is the best educated in the world. They could teach Kerry a thing or two about patriotism and waging war. A man who gets shot in the butt with rice to collect a Purple Heart should keep his mouth shut when it comes to the US military. He voted to send those troops there or did he forget?" said Kouri.
