NEW YORK - Iraq war veterans on the sidelines of the Republican convention say they are sick of the bickering over the Vietnam War records of President Bush and Sen. John Kerry and want a serious discussion of Iraq and veterans' issues instead.

"We want to force both candidates to give us some answers here," said Paul Rieckhoff, a platoon leader in Iraq and executive director of Operation Truth, which is lobbying to highlight the Iraq war as an election issue.

"Bush hasn't really given us a clear focus on how he's going to change things and Kerry hasn't given us a clear idea what he will do differently," he said.

U.S. soldiers in Iraq search for explosives on a road outside Baqubah, September 1, 2004. Iraq war veterans on the sidelines of the Republican convention say they are sick of the bickering over the Vietnam War records of President Bush and Sen. John Kerry and want a serious discussion of Iraq and veterans' issues instead. 'We want to force both candidates to give us some answers here,' said Paul Rieckhoff, a platoon leader in Iraq and executive director of Operation Truth, which is lobbying to highlight the Iraq war as an election issue. Photo by Reuters

Several veterans' groups descended on New York during the Republican convention that nominated Bush for a second term. The veterans are attending debates, doing media interviews and lobbying politicians to offer more specifics about what to do in Iraq, where almost 1,000 U.S. soldiers have died since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Kerry, a Massachusetts Democratic senator, was pulling even with Bush among veterans in surveys after the Democratic convention in July when he highlighted his Vietnam War record. Polls suggest that subsequent attacks on his war record by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth group have cut his support among former soldiers.

Kerry has accused the Bush campaign of collaborating with the Swift Boat group, a charge the White House denies.

Bush refused to condemn the attack ads but said Kerry was "more heroic" than him during the war, when he served in the Texas Air National Guard. Some Democrats accuse Bush of shirking that responsibility, citing gaps in his attendance record.

"The emphasis on the Vietnam War is spurious and has taken away the focus from having a serious dialogue on the Iraq war," said Rebecca Smith of the bipartisan Veterans Institute for Security and Democracy.

"We feel veterans are getting short shrift."

In a tight election, both candidates have aggressively courted the nation's 26 million veterans. Kerry and Bush both spoke this week in Nashville, Tennessee, to the nation's largest veterans group, the American Legion.

Veterans have more basic gripes about the benefits they receive once they return home.

David Lemak, 57, a Republican delegate who served in the Air Force for 20 years, including three in Southeast Asia, supports Bush, but said, "There are some things that need to get taken care of in the next administration.

"The promise to our veterans out there is unlike any other one. It was made many years ago and it was a promise that if you come and serve our country, we'll take care of you for your lifetime. That's got to be honored," he said.

Veterans inside and outside the convention hall complained about the gradual erosion of their benefits, particularly health care, under both former President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, and his Republican successor, Bush.

"We need to know where veterans fit into the budget because we are creating new veterans every day in Iraq," said Smith.

© 2004 Reuters Ltd

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