Knowing what we know today, the US should not have invaded Iraq, period.

But Kerry knows that he is getting a lot of support in the armed forces, and he doesn't want to turn them off him. They're stuck in the mud of Iraq, and they need to feel support. If he had said No - the GOP would have been all over him for not showing the troops any support.

He could have said that "America rushed to war, when there was no rush. Knowing me, you know I wouldn't have done that. But if I had found strong reasons to go to war, I would have done so."

By saying Yes, without really qualifying it in a manner that was picked up in sound-bites, he walked into Bush's trap. He wanted to sound as if he supported his vote for the war - yet his qualifier about the country being misled into war did not tag along.

He's made that up since - and it's not a big point until we get to the debates. This is a question that is certain to be raised then, and which the two candidates will have to answer (in Bush's case without Cheney babysitting him).