US Sen. John Kerry drew Republican fire today for saying college students could "get stuck in Iraq" if they do not study hard. The Democrat, however, refused to apologise and called on President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to do so instead.
With the Iraq war a dominant issue in the November 7th congressional elections, Mr Kerry's comment about Iraq on Monday gave Republicans, struggling to maintain control of Congress, a chance to fight back against war critics.
While campaigning in California, Mr Kerry told a college crowd on Monday: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don't, you get stuck in Iraq."
Kerry initially responded to criticism today with a written statement but as the flap mounted he called a news conference in Seattle to further explain himself.
"My statement yesterday - and the White House knows this full well - was a botched joke about the president and the president's people, not about the troops," he said.
Mr Kerry served in the Navy in the Vietnam War. Mr Bush was a member of the Texas Air National Guard during that war, spending his time in the United States. Mr Cheney avoided Vietnam with student deferments.
"Let me make it crystal clear, as crystal clear as I know how," Mr Kerry said. "I apologise to no one for my criticism of the president and of his broken policy.
"The White House's attempt to distort my true statement is a remarkable testament to their abject failure in making America safe," he added.
But if the White House misconstrued his comments, apparently so did others, including Sen. John McCain, an Arizona Republican and a fellow Vietnam veteran, who has had an amicable relationship with the Massachusetts Democrat.
Mr McCain said Kerry "owes an apology to the many thousands of Americans serving in Iraq, who answered their country's call because they are patriots and not because of any deficiencies in their education."
Other Republican lawmakers and conservative talk-show hosts made similar calls as both parties jockeyed for position in next week's elections.
Kerry said, "If anyone thinks a veteran would criticise the more than 140,000 heroes serving in Iraq - and not the president who got us stuck there - they're crazy.
"The people who owe our troops an apology are George W. Bush and Dick Cheney who misled America into war," Mr Kerry said.
White House spokesman Tony Snow called the comments by Bush's 2004 Democratic challenger "an absolute insult" to those who have served in Iraq.
However, Mr Kerry added in his written statement, "I'm not going to be lectured by a stuffed-suit White House mouthpiece standing behind a podium or doughy (talk-show host) Rush Limbaugh."