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Kerry likens sex scandal to the war in Iraq
Senator John Kerry, a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, likened the congressional sex scandal to the war in Iraq, saying Republicans have lied repeatedly.
- AP
- Published: 00:00 October 15, 2006
Manchester, New Hampshire: Senator John Kerry, a potential Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, likened the congressional sex scandal to the war in Iraq, saying Republicans have lied repeatedly.
"A lie, a lie, a lie, a lie. What we have in Washington is a house of lies, and in November, we need to clean house," Kerry said on Friday night during the New Hampshire Democratic Party's annual fall fundraising dinner.
"They tell us we're making progress in Iraq and that there is no civil war. That is a lie," he said. "It's immoral to lie about progress in that war in order to get through a news cycle or an election cycle."
Kerry criticised the Bush administration for blaming the North Korean nuclear test on former President Bill Clinton.
Less safe
"That is a lie. North Korea's nuclear programme was frozen under Bill Clinton. When George W. Bush turned his back on diplomacy, Kim Jong-il turned back to making bombs, and the world is less safe because a madman has the Bush bomb," he said.
Kerry said Republicans also are lying when they claim the scandal surrounding Republican Congressman Mark Foley is a Democratic plot to win next month's congressional elections. Foley resigned on September 29 after being confronted with sexually explicit electronic messages to teenage congressional assistants, called pages. "This issue is here because of a Republican cover-up," he said. "And those from the party that preach moral values that covered this up have no right to preach moral values any more."
Dissatisfaction
Fallout from the Foley scandal, along with continuing violence in Iraq and dissatisfaction with President George W. Bush's leadership, could help Democrats pick up the 15 seats they need to win control of the House of Representatives in the November 7 elections. All 435 House seats are up for a vote, as are 33 of the 100 Senate seats. Democrats need to gain six seats in the Senate.
For several days after Foley's resignation, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, the top House Republican, blamed Democrats for the scandal. Hastert later changed course and took responsibility for the matter. Wayne Semprini, New Hampshire Republican State chief, said Americans didn't buy what Kerry and the Democrats said in 2004.
Abu ghraib prison torture denied
A Republican congressman in a tough re-election fight said on Friday that abuses by US forces at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were more about pornography than torture.
Congressman Christopher Shays said in a telephone interview on Friday with The Associated Press that a military unit had "run amok".
"It was torture because sex abuse is torture," he told The AP. "It was gross and despicable ... This is more about pornography than torture." Shays sought to defuse controversy over his previous comments suggesting the Abu Ghraib abuses weren't torture but instead involved a sex ring of troops.
"Now I've seen what happened in Abu Ghraib, and Abu Ghraib was not torture," Shays said at a debate on Wednesday.
He said troops "were involved in a sex ring and they took pictures of soldiers who were naked".
"And they did other things that were just outrageous. But it wasn't torture," Shays added.
The lawmaker's comments were in a transcript of the debate provided by his Democratic opponent, Diane Farrell. Shays' campaign, contacted on Friday, did not dispute the comments.
"Once again, Chris is trying to back away from an earlier statement because it's politically expedient," Farrell said on Friday. "It's typical Chris."
Shays is waging a bruising re-election fight against Farrell in the November 7 elections. Democrats hope to gain 15 seats in the 435-member House of Representatives, which would give them control of that chamber. All House seats and 33 of the 100 Senate seats are up for election. Abu Ghraib is the Baghdad prison where abuse of prisoners by US soldiers led to an international scandal.
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