Reply #9: Kerry had this position in 1972

[karynnj]

This was when we still had a draft. The idea of a volunteer army in those days flew in the face of the idea of citizen/soldiers and would have seemed more like mercenaries. I know I read things at the time that warned of the dangers of a permanent warrior class by people older than John Kerry at that time. John Kerry was far from alone in thinking this.

Even in the 1970s, John Kerry spoke out against the burden of war being borne mostly by the poor and the minorities. In his Senate testimony, he mentioned that blacks bore the highest percent of casualties and later in the speech mentioned that when they returned they were disproportionately among the unemployed. This was clearly an issue of fairness for him.

It would only seem reasonable that someone would change opinions made on how things might be before they were in existance after they saw how they worked. In fact, someone who didn't evaluate what the real situate was and adjust their views would be considered foolish. Senator Kerry has made hundreds (possibly thousands) of comments about how well trained and effective the army is over the last few decades as a Senator. For a Senator the RW accuses of flip flopping, it seems ridiculous to bring up 34 year old opinions. After all, Kerry was 28 years old - 12 years younger than when Bush stopped being "young and irresponsible".