National Guard officer from Manhattan who recently returned from combat in Iraq delivered the Democratic Party's response to President Bush's radio address yesterday, saying that while progress was being made in Iraq, the American effort was poorly planned and poorly executed. The officer, First Lt. Paul Rieckhoff, spoke in a radio spot usually reserved for members of Congress and political figures.
"The people who planned this war were not ready for us," he said in his address. "There were not enough vehicles, not enough ammunition, not enough medical supplies, not enough water."
Lieutenant Rieckhoff's address was broadcast on the first anniversary of Mr. Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech and came directly after the president's weekly radio address. Lieutenant Rieckhoff, a 1998 graduate of Amherst College and former president of the student government there, is a registered Democrat. He approached the Democratic Party about his concerns about the war, but has not yet decided whether to endorse Senator John Kerry for president. He is one of only a few nonpolitical figures to deliver the Democrats' response, said a Kerry campaign official. In his remarks, recorded in Manhattan, Lieutenant Rieckhoff said two images kept replaying in his mind: the scrolling list of war dead and Mr. Bush's April 14 news conference in which he said he would "stay the course."
"Well, it is time for a change," Lieutenant Rieckhoff said in his address. "Our troops are still waiting for more body armor. They are still waiting for better equipment. They are still waiting for a policy that brings in the rest of the world and relieves their burden."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/02/international/middleeast/02SOLD.html
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