Letter: Kerry has proven to be indecisive and pessimistic

Thursday, Sept. 30, 2004 | 9:13 a.m.

Sen. John Kerry continues to fight the wrong war. He is so obsessed with his four months in Vietnam that he does not realize the war against terrorists is global like World War II.

To say we should not have invaded Iraq is like saying we should have never fought Germany because only Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Kerry does not have sufficient grasp of military strategic issues to develop the strategy needed to win this global war against terrorism. Kerry's multiple positions on Iraq and his conflicting statements on the nature of the threat posed by Saddam Hussein demonstrate that he does not have the qualities essential to a wartime president.

Kerry does not understand President Bush's visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln to thank the troops because Kerry never thanked the troops after Vietnam; he vilified them. His Senate testimony in 1971 was an attack on the warrior, not the war, and framed a perspective that motivated 19 years of Senate voting against defense and intelligence spending. His newfound support for intelligence and our armed forces rings hollow and appears to be nothing more than pandering for votes.

Kerry does not offer leadership, he offers gloom and doom and positions based upon polling, what I call pessimistic followership. What the nation needs is positive leadership and that is what President Bush provides.

PAUL F. ADAMS