The Scum at the Top
Commentary on the Rats in Washington
Retired Gen. John Shalikashvili endorses Kerry
By David Postman
Seattle Times chief political reporter
The Seattle Times
© July 29, 2004
Retired Gen. John Shalikashvili, former chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stood in front of thousands of
fervent Democrats last night to endorse Sen. John Kerry for
president. It seemingly was a very big first step into the
world of politics for the career military officer and Polish
émigré.
"But I do not stand here as a political figure," Shalikashvili
told the delegates. "Rather, I am here as an old soldier and
a new Democrat."
He's a new Democrat, as opposed to the moderate New Democrat,
because as a career soldier he didn't involve himself in
politics. But in an interview last night before his speech,
Shalikashvili said he recently became convinced it was time to
lend his name, expertise and essentially his reputation as a
military leader to the Massachusetts Democrat's presidential
bid.
"Considering the times we are living in and the dangers we are
facing in this post-9/11 world, John Kerry is by far the best
choice for the security of America," he said.
Shalikashvili's political emergence also gives the Puget Sound
its highest-profile player at the convention. In retirement,
the general moved to Steilacoom, Pierce County, in 1998. He
served as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military's
highest-ranking officer, under President Clinton.
He spoke last night to a packed hall before the event turned
to vice-presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards and his
family.
While it was Shalikashvili's first public political event, he
grew up watching American politics and how the United States
shaped the world.
He watched from Poland, where he was born.
"I certainly thought of America as a land of boundless
opportunity. That it is a beacon of hope and freedom that it
represents to the rest of the world," he said.
He thought of presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Truman and
Eisenhower as giants who believed "we are not alone in the
world, that we have a responsibility to lead, not to bully."
As a young boy he lived through the Nazi occupation of Poland
and saw his hometown destroyed in the 1944 Warsaw uprising.
Shalikashvili, 68, came to the United States in 1952 when he
was 16. He enlisted in the Army six years later.
He served in Vietnam and rose to be Supreme Allied Commander
Europe under President George H.W. Bush. At the end of the
first Gulf War, he was in charge of the Kurdish relief operation
in Iraq.
Shalikashvili's speech covered only national security. He is
now an informal adviser to the candidate and campaign, and
says he will talk only about those issues. But he sounds like
a committed Democrat.
"The other side has been working very hard to paint the
impression that Democrats in general and John Kerry in
particular would not be good stewards of our national security,"
he said in the interview.
"I thought it important, having spent 39 years wearing our
country's uniform, to stand up in front of the convention and
stand up in front of the nation and tell them that there are
people like me who disagree with that false premise."
David Postman: 360-943-9882 or dpostman@seattletimes.com
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January 15, 2007