The Sandspur

Issue date: 10/29/04 Section: News

Media Credit: Erika Batey SHARING HIS THOUGHTS: During the discussion, former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey, expressed his views on the need for unity in national security endeavors.

The Galloway Room in the Mills Memorial Center hosted the National Security Round Table on Friday, October 22. The Roundtable featured former two-term senator Bob Kerrey, current United States Senator Bill Nelson, and three other panelists who talked about how the war in Iraq affected them.

Senator Bob Kerrey, who is in no way related to Presidential candidate John Kerry, believes that "unity is key," and this unity cannot be obtained while current President George Bush is in office. Kerrey discussed how and why he believes John Kerry will better our nation in regards to national security including the notion that Kerry "knows what it is like to be a separated nation."

As a member of the 9/11 Commission, Senator Bob Kerrey deemed it necessary to discuss the effects that the event currently have on this year's election. Both Tom Johnson, an Iraqi war veteran, and two other panelists, declared that Bush's reasoning for going to war did not have anything to do with the events of September 11. Tom Johnson's son was killed in the South Tower of the Twin Towers and believes that the war is not honestly being fought to avenge the death of his son and many others on that day.

The Iraq War veteran professes to be "frustrated with the lack of post-war planning" and believes that the "lack of security and infrastructure have now turned the [Iraqi] people against us." In other words, he believes that Bush's lack of help to the Iraqis, as well as the military, caused them to "jump on the bandwagon."

Another panelist at the Roundtable was a military mom and wife. She believes that there is a need for a new power in the White House to save the military, and therefore sons and husbands. She does not want to be led to believe that troops are safe if they are not, which she believes is the case in Bush's administration. According to Tom Johnson, "it's not just about your party but your beliefs and the truths."

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