You're the best of America and you perform magnificently every single day. We thank you for your service and for your sacrifice.
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Twenty-three months ago, President Bush came right here to this great civic and educational institution in this great city, to ask the American people for our support. And he promised then to make the right choices when it came to sending young Americans to Iraq.
Here in Cincinnati, he said that if Congress approved the resolution giving him the authority to use force, it did not mean that military action would be unavoidable. But he chose not to give the weapons inspectors the time they needed, not just to get the job done, but to give meaning to the words "going to war as a last resort."
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Here in Cincinnati, he promised to lead a coalition, but he failed to build the kind of broad, strong, real coalition, and he rushed to war without a plan to win the peace.
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Here in Cincinnati, from this hall, on that night, he spoke to the nation and he promised, quote, "If we have to act, we will take every precaution that is possible, we will plan carefully, we will act with the full power of the United States military, we will act with allies at our side, and we will prevail."
But then George W. Bush made the wrong choices.
KERRY: He himself now admits he miscalculated in Iraq. But in truth, his miscalculation was ignoring the advice that he was given, including the very best advice of America's own military.
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When he didn't like what he was hearing, he even fired the Army chief of staff.
His miscalculation was going to war without taking every precaution, without giving the inspectors time. His miscalculation was going to war without planning carefully and without the allies that we should have had at our side.
As a result, America has paid nearly 90 percent of the bill in Iraq. Contrast that with the Gulf War, where our allies paid 95 percent of the costs.
George W. Bush's wrong choices have led America in the wrong direction in Iraq and they have left America without the resources that we need so desperately here at home.
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The cost of the president's go-it-alone policy in Iraq is now $200 billion and counting. $200 billion for Iraq, but they tell us we can't afford after-school programs for our children. $200 billion for Iraq, but they tell us we can't afford health care for our veterans. $200 billion dollars for Iraq, but they tell us we can't afford to keep the 100,000 police officers we put on the streets during the 1990s.
We're here today to tell them they're wrong.
It's time to lead America in a new direction.
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When it comes to Iraq, it's not that I would have done one thing differently from the president; I would have done almost everything differently from the president.
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I would have given the inspectors the time they needed before rushing to war. I would have built a genuine coalition of allies and made sure that every soldier that was put in harm's way actually had the equipment and the body armor that they needed.
KERRY: I would have listened to our senior military leaders in this country, and I would have listened to the bipartisan advice that was given by the Congress of the United States.
And if there's one thing that I learned from my own experience in a war, I would never have gone to war without a plan to win the peace.
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I would not have made the wrong choices that are now forcing us to pay nearly the entire cost of this war: $200 billion that we're not investing in education and health care, job creation here at home; $200 billion for going it alone in Iraq.
