Reply #5: If I were Kerry, I'd give an answer like this:

[elperromagico]

"Tim, I don't think someone can watch friends and fellow soldiers violently die on the field of battle without being forever changed and haunted by the experience. But my experience in Vietnam led me to believe that no American soldier should be sent to fight in a war where the cause isn't just and the goals are not clearly outlined. The current leadership in the White House doesn't seem to understand that. Perhaps if they hadn't 'had other priorities' when their nation called on them to serve, they would understand that."

But I'm not Kerry.