Reply #2: it was good, i saw the presser in its entirety

[newsguyatl]

here's a good summation:

Kerry: Time for Bush 'to tell the truth' on Iraq
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democratic presidential contender Sen. John Kerry Thursday urged President Bush "to tell the truth to the American people" about the war in Iraq, saying the administration has bungled the resulting U.S. occupation.
Kerry, D-Mass., said Bush's May 1 declaration that major combat had ended in Iraq, delivered from the deck of an aircraft carrier, was premature "no matter how well staged."
"It's time for the president to step forward and tell the truth -- that the war is continuing, and so are the casualties," Kerry said. He said the administration "assured us they had a plan" to rebuild Iraq after the war, but "it is now evident they didn't have a plan."
"It's time for the president to tell the truth -- that we lack sufficient forces to do the job of reconstruction in Iraq and withdraw in a reasonable period," he added.
Kerry offered a four-point plan of his own Thursday: Bolstering the 145,000 U.S. troops now in Iraq with peacekeepers from NATO allies and Muslim nations; getting U.N. agencies involved in humanitarian relief work and establishing a democratic government; outline "immediately and publicly" how and when the United States will transfer power to an Iraqi government; and move more quickly to restore basic services such as power and transportation.
"Just because a mistake was made does not mean we should compound it by making further mistakes," he said. Continuing instability in Iraq could undermine U.S. efforts to battle al Qaeda as well, he added.
"Not winning the peace in Iraq will have more impact on the war on terror than any single thing we're doing," he said.
Most of the leading Democratic presidential contenders, including Kerry, supported giving Bush the authority to go to war in Iraq. Kerry said Thursday that decision was "100 percent right" because it gave the United States additional leverage in the United Nations.
But, "in order to re-establish the credibility of our own government," he said, an investigation is needed into allegations the Bush administration overstated the threat posed by Iraq's weapons programs during the debate over war.
"This is not a matter of politics. This is a matter of national security," he said. "When we go to other countries and say we have evidence of X or Y or Z, it is important that they believe us. And when we go to the American people and ask them to support some effort in the future, it is more than important that they believe us."
Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran who became an anti-war leader, said Bush appears to be going down "a prideful road" by failing to get international help for peacekeeping in Iraq.
"I learned a long time ago in Vietnam what happens when pride gets in the way of making honest decisions," he said.