Kerry questions Bush's wartime moral authority

ST. LOUIS -- John F. Kerry walked into a diner here yesterday morning for a breakfast with fellow veterans, old soldiers gathered for a quiet discussion of war, death, and suffering on a day charged with political significance.

He sought a low profile, but in a rare, unscripted conversation with those gathered, the Massachusetts senator questioned President Bush's wartime moral authority, suggested that Vice President Dick Cheney would face harsher scrutiny for potential war-profiteering if Democrats were in control of Congress, and vented about the tone of the presidential race.

And all that was before he finished his pancakes.

One year ago yesterday, Bush, standing on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit, proclaimed "Mission accomplished" in Iraq. Some Americans watching saw a heroic leader; others saw a politician cloaking himself in the trappings of war despite never having seen combat. Kerry ridiculed the event repeatedly during the Democratic primaries, but has largely refrained from commenting on it since then.

However, the anniversary was clearly on the menu at breakfast yesterday, as Kerry ate with 16 former soldiers contacted by Missouri Veterans for Kerry. Kerry can often appear stiff or dull in public settings, but veterans frequently bring out his more dynamic and emotive side. During the primaries, medal-wearing veterans often surrounded Kerry at events. And the general campaign, already dominated by an intensely personal debate over war, promises more of the same.

Fields Black, 33, a Persian Gulf veteran breathing through an oxygen tube because of his emphysema, lambasted Bush yesterday: "You land on the aircraft carrier, strutting your stuff, and I have a hard time walking. How dare you? That's how I look at the president. How dare you. . . .

"It amazes me how he does it with a smile, too."

Another veteran at the table remarked, "I think the American people should say something in November."

"Well, that's what this is about, my friend," said Kerry of the election.

In recent days, despite withering attacks from the White House, Kerry has tried to maintain a statesman's tone in responding. But with Iraq dominating the headlines, he has struggled to sharply distinguish his position on the war -- supporting the invasion overall but critical of Bush's diplomacy and postwar planning -- from Bush's.

Repps Hudson, a Vietnam veteran with a Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars, contended that Kerry had spent too much time on the defensive.

"I think we're pushing back," Kerry said. "You know, the media like a conflict, so they take it. But the fact is, I think they come out looking silly."

Then, he lit into the unexplained attendance gaps in Bush's stateside service in the Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.

'I mean, the guy can't answer where he was, when he served."

But Hudson persisted: "You think you might start pushing back?"

"I think we're doing it right now," Kerry responded, appearing irritated.

"We've had to be out raising money, got to do a lot of stuff. It takes time. . . . Listen, man, I don't know if you saw the polls, but we're in good shape. We're just plugging away. Americans aren't listening to all that junk."

Kerry was also asked about Halliburton, a company Cheney once led that is accused of war-profiteering. Kerry contended that not enough attention had been drawn to the allegations.

"The problem is that we don't have the Senate, we don't have the House. We can't make something happen because they have the ability and the control to set the congressional agenda and they have the White House," Kerry said. "So that's what this battle is about, folks."

Before breakfast ended, Black began coughing and gasping for breath. Kerry looked concerned. "You OK, man?" he asked. Black nodded yes, but continued coughing.

Kerry told his staff to take down Black's contact information and ensure he received adequate care.

Around noon, Kerry flew to Washington, D.C., visiting for more than an hour with wounded soldiers from the current Iraq conflict recuperating at Walter Reed Medical Center. Asked whether reporters could join him, he said: "No cameras, no crews . . . It's not an official visit. It's just a personal thing."

Raja Mishra can be reached at rmishra@globe.com.