Kerry Sharpens Attack on Bush and Iraq War

To Bush's argument, made repeatedly on the campaign trail, that despite the failure to find weapons of mass destruction he would do the same thing now as he did in the spring of 2003, Kerry said: "How can he possibly be serious? Is he really saying to America that if we know there was no imminent threat, no weapons of mass destruction, no ties to al Qaeda, the United States should have invaded Iraq? My answer: resoundingly no. Because a commander in chief's first responsibility is to make a wise and responsible decision to keep America safe."

Officials in the Bush-Cheney campaign immediately responded that Kerry had again changed his position. They cited the senator's words during the Democratic primaries, when he criticized former Vermont governor Howard Dean for saying that the Iraqi leader's capture did not make the United States safer, arguing those who believed that did not have the judgment to be president.

Bartlett challenged Kerry's portrayal of conditions in Iraq and said his timing, just as Allawi is arriving in the United States, sent the wrong signal to those working to stabilize Iraq. "To disparage everything being done by casting everything in the negative light is not what I think the American people are looking for," he said.

Kerry charged that Bush repeatedly failed to tell the truth before the war, on everything from the threat posed by Hussein to what it would take militarily and financially to prevail after the invasion. He said Vice President Cheney remains one of the few holdouts. "Only Vice President Cheney still insists that the Earth is flat," he said.

Kerry argued that Bush's failure to tell the truth before the war has been topped by repeated miscalculations since then. "His miscalculations were not the equivalent of accounting errors," he said. "They were colossal failures of judgment -- and judgment is what we look for in a president."

Kerry's running mate, Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), joined in the criticism, saying at a town hall meeting in Raleigh, N.C., that the president has been "completely incompetent" in administering the war and that Bush's actions have been "a disaster." He added, "The only two people in America who wouldn't change what they've done in Iraq are George W. Bush and Dick Cheney."

During a question-and-answer session, Edwards was asked about his vote for the Iraq resolution by a young man who said he was a Marine Corps reservist and a Democrat. "Why are my friends dying over there?" the man asked. "Why did you vote for that?"

"I stand by my vote on the resolution," Edwards said. "But I did not give George Bush the authority to make the mess he's made in Iraq."

Staff writer David Snyder, traveling with Edwards, contributed to this report.