(2004-09-03) -- John Forbes Kerry, buoyed by his growing underdog status in the wake of the Republican convention, today said he is fit to command the nation's military because he has personally taken up arms to defend the United States against a nation that posed no threat.

"As a young man, I defended this country against the North Vietnamese communists who never posed a danger to America," said Mr. Kerry. "And when I'm president, I will defend the United States against all of the countries that do not threaten us--like North Korea, Iran and France."

On a front porch in rural Ohio last night, Mr. Kerry recalled his now famous 1971 Senate Foreign Relations Committee testimony which he began by posing the question: 'How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

"I now know the answer to that question," said Mr. Kerry last night. "You ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake by telling him you have been there. As commander-in-chief, I will never ask our military to do what I wouldn't do. But I can sincerely look a man in the eye and say, 'Soldier, I have rushed into combat for no good reason and now I want you to do the same'."

Mr. Kerry remembered testifying in 1971 that "there is nothing in South Vietnam which could happen that realistically threatens the United States of America."

"It's that record of defending America that entitles me to serve as your commander-in-chief," he said. "And as you kneel by the bedside to pray with your children, you'll thank the Almighty for placing President John Kerry as a protective hedge between your family and the many nations and organizations that pose no threat to your safety."