An AP-Ipsos Public Affairs poll conducted Oct. 4-6 showed the Kerry-Edwards ticket leading Bush-Cheney by 50 percent to 46 percent among likely voters, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, the Associated Press reported. The poll showed declining support for Bush on the war in Iraq and national security. Among all registered voters surveyed in the poll, the race was tied at 47 percent.
In his brief remarks about the Duelfer report, Bush said Hussein constituted "a unique threat" to the United States, since he was a "sworn enemy" of America and "a state sponsor of terror." After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Hussein "was a threat we had to confront, and America and the world are safer for our actions," Bush said.
But he also noted U.S. intelligence shortcomings highlighted by the report.
"The Duelfer report makes clear that much of the accumulated body of 12 years of our intelligence and that of our allies was wrong, and we must find out why and correct the flaws," he said. "At a time of many threats in the world, the intelligence on which the president and members of Congress base their decisions must be better, and it will be."
Cheney insisted today that the Duelfer report’s findings justify Bush’s decision to invade Iraq last year, even though the report said the country’s ability to make banned weapons "was essentially destroyed" during the Persian Gulf War more than a decade earlier.
Speaking at a town-hall meeting while campaigning in Florida, Cheney seized on portions of the report by Duelfer, who was appointed by the Bush administration to complete an assessment of Saddam Hussein’s weapons programs after the Iraqi ruler was deposed by the invasion.
The report said Iraq’s ability to make nuclear weapons had "progressively decayed" since 1991 and there was no evidence of "concerted efforts to restart the program." Hussein also had no stockpiles of biological or chemical weapons, and research on them had halted years before the March 2003 U.S. invasion, inspectors found.
The report concluded that Hussein "aspired to develop a nuclear capability" and wanted to resume building chemical and biological weapons after achieving his main goal of lifting U.N. sanctions. But it noted that his regime "had no formal written strategy or plan for the revival of WMD [weapons of mass destruction] after sanctions."
Cheney told the town-hall gathering in Miami today that the report makes it clear that "delay, defer, wait wasn’t an option," since Hussein still intended to acquire banned weapons. "As soon as the sanctions were lifted, he had every intention of going back" to his weapons programs, he said.
Cheney also pointed to Duelfer’s conclusion that Hussein had corrupted the U.N. "Oil for Food" program, using it to undermine the sanctions and "provide the means to enhance dual-use infrastructure and potential WMD-related development."
Said Cheney, "The suggestion is clearly there by Mr. Duelfer that Saddam had used the program in such a way that he had bought off foreign governments and was building support among them to take the sanctions down." Therefore, there was no reason to hold off the invasion and give U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq more time to complete their work, Cheney said.
Cheney also continued to attack Kerry, saying the senator from Massachusetts has built a record that proves he is incapable of leading the country, especially in a time of war, Washington Post staff writer Ovetta Wiggins reported.
"His record in the United States Senate does not inspire confidence," Cheney said. "He has come down on the wrong side of virtually every major defense issue during his term in the United State Senate."
He told the crowd that Kerry has started to question the Patriot Act, even though he voted for it. "We can’t have a commander-in-chief in these circumstances that blows with the political winds," Cheney said.
