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'Bush misled every one of us'
19/06/2003 12:33 - (SA)
Lebanon - A Democratic senator said that President George W Bush broke his promise to build an international coalition against Iraq's Saddam Hussein and then waged a war based on questionable intelligence.
"He misled every one of us," Senator John Kerry, a top contender for the Democratic Party's nomination to challenge Bush in the 2004 presidential election, said on Wednesday. "That's one reason why I'm running to be president of the United States."
Kerry, who fought in the Vietnam War and supported the war against Iraq, said Bush made his case for military action based on at least two pieces of US intelligence that now appear to be wrong - that Iraq sought nuclear material from Africa and that Saddam's regime had aerial weapons capable of attacking the United States with biological material.
Still, Kerry said it is too early to conclude whether or not war with Iraq was justified. There needs to be a congressional investigation into US intelligence on Iraq, he said.
"I will not let him off the hook throughout this campaign with respect to America's credibility and credibility to me because if he lied he lied to me personally," he said.
Kerry fielded several questions about Iraq from a small group of anti-war Democrats after he addressed about 250 people in a downtown park.
Kerry, who has criticised the president's diplomatic efforts, said Bush had alienated US allies in the runup to war.
Kerry said he has led the call for a congressional investigation and pledged, "We will get to the bottom of this." - Sapa-AP
- SAPA
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