Ex-Air Force general rips President on Iraq in Derry
By TOBY HENRY
Union Leader Correspondent

DERRY — Retired four-star Air Force General Merrill "Tony" McPeak blasted U.S. policies on Iraq before local Democrats yesterday, stating Presidential hopeful John Kerry has the credentials to do a better job.

"Certainly, we're creating more terrorists every day than we're killing," said McPeak, a former chief of staff during Desert Storm.

The general said disenchanted with George W. Bush's leadership lead to his becoming an independent.

"If we had the same ratio of peacekeepers (in Iraq) ... that NATO has in Bosnia, we'd have 500,000 soldiers," he said. "We have 140,000. It's too small to get the job done and too big to be sustained.

"John Kerry is a courageous guy ... and he will work on this problem," McPeak said. "He won't be on vacation in the White House."

McPeak, along with Iraq war veterans Lt. Col. Sam Poulten of Lawrence, Mass., and Air Force Sgt. Doug Madory of Hanover warned of an eroding image of the United States in the eyes of its allies around the world.

On the global scale, McPeak said, the U.S. has an approval rating in the single digits because of Bush administration policies, adding that the nation is suffering from a lack of both leadership ability and trust in the world's view.

In his closing remarks, McPeak asked voters to support Kerry and noted that New Hampshire's "battleground state" status makes it critical in the final days of the campaign.

"Let's get this one across the goal line," he said.

Andover resident and Kerry supporter Gail Mann said she felt McPeak's speech underscored a "need for perspective" regarding the Iraq conflict.

"The dwindling of our relationship with so many other countries, and (the Bush administration) taking such a unilateral focus ... frightens me," she said. "It's a limited view of the world."

The Union Leader

Former Air Force chief backs Kerry in visit to Whitehall Township
Retired Gen. Tony McPeak apologizes for helping Bush in 2000.

By Joe McDermott
Of The Morning Call

Slamming ''not-so-swift boat veterans'' and neo-conservatives who have helped the president create a ''fantasy world,'' a former Air Force chief of staff on Tuesday urged Lehigh Valley voters to support Democrat John Kerry.

Retired Gen. Merrill A. ''Tony'' McPeak said he is working this year to correct the mistake he made in 2000 by backing George W. Bush.

''There is no doubt this country is weaker economically, militarily, diplomatically, politically and ethically,'' said the former fighter pilot who retired 10 years ago. ''This administration has multiplied our enemies and divided our friends … kind of a stupid strategy, if you think about it.''

The rest is here: Allentown Morning Call