U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., told a New York radio audience Wednesday his remark about being "stuck in Iraq" was a bungled joke, and "pretty stupid."

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Kerry made an unscheduled phone call to Don Imus on his syndicated WFAN "Imus in the Morning" radio show, and said he wanted to clarify the remark he made Monday in California.

He told students in Pasadena if they didn't value their education, they would end up "stuck in Iraq," which President George Bush promptly seized on in a speech in Georgia, where he called the remark "insulting" and "shameful."

Imus asked Kerry if he was sorry for the remark.

"Of course, I'm sorry about a botched joke. You think I love botched jokes? I mean, it's pretty stupid," Kerry responded.

A former Navy lieutenant and recipient of the Silver Star and three Purple Hearts in Vietnam, Kerry pointed out Tuesday to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer none of the senior administration had gone to war.

"It disgusts me that a bunch of these Republican hacks who have never worn the uniform of our country are willing to lie about those who did," Kerry said.