FLORENCE, S.C. —  As fighting winds down in Iraq, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry continues to criticize President Bush's push for war and says the United States should have continued diplomacy with the United Nations.

Kerry, who is vying for the Democratic presidential nomination, told a crowd gathered at a restaurant here Monday that Bush has hurt some international relationships that will be difficult to repair, the Morning News of Florence reported.

His comments drew criticism from South Carolina House Judiciary Chairman Jim Harrison, R-Columbia, who has asked Kerry to apologize.

"First John Kerry called for a regime change and now he wants to question the president's character in a time of war," Harrison, a Gulf War veteran, said in a release.

Kerry's spokesman Robert Gibbs said the senator has been consistent with his stance on the war.

"John Kerry voted for the resolution authorizing the use of force in Iraq and, while he has criticized the diplomacy in the run up to the war, he supported the effort to disarm the brutal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein and was proud of the brave mean and women in uniform who have served their country so bravely," Gibbs said.