Kerry: What I'd have done
2004-08-06 07:09
Washington - John Kerry has said he would have jumped into action more quickly than President George Bush did on September 11 2001, raising the stakes in the political fight over terrorism as Bush warned that the United States can't afford to "grow timid and weary and afraid" in Iraq or elsewhere.
The Democratic challenger said he'd never waver - "I can fight a more effective, smarter and better war on terror that actually makes America safer," Kerry told Missouri voters Thursday.
Disputing that vow was a group of Vietnam veterans who unveiled a television ad challenging Kerry's medal-winning service in the war.
Meanwhile, Kerry announced during an appearance in Missouri that he wants to spend $20-billion over a decade developing clean-burning fuels and environmental technology, part of an effort to reduce American dependence on foreign oil.
"You can't count on Kerry"
However, the focus on the campaign trail on Thursday was on war and terrorism, with Bush trying to rekindle the rally-around-the-president passions that pushed his popularity to record heights after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Kerry, tied or slightly ahead of Bush in most polls, hopes to erase the president's advantages on issues of terrorism and national security after making gains during last week's Democratic National Convention.
Addressing minority journalists in the nation's capital, Kerry was asked what he would have done as president the moment he received word of the attacks on the World Trade Centre. Bush spent seven minutes listening to "The Pet Goat" being read at a Florida elementary school after his chief of staff, Andrew Card, whispered, "America is under attack," as televisions cameras recorded the anxious scene.
"I would have told those kids very politely and nicely that the president of the United States had something that he needed to attend to," Kerry said before flying to Missouri to resume his cross-country campaign trip. "And I would have attended to it."
Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani came to Bush's defence, accusing Kerry of taking cues from moviemaker Michael Moore, whose documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 questions the president's immediate reaction to the attacks.
Bush served stateside in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.
Kerry often suggests that a wartime president needs war experience, but the remark carried extra weight on Thursday as a group of fellow veterans questioned his combat credentials.
"When the chips were down, you could not count on John Kerry," says Larry Thurlow, one of several veterans who criticises Kerry in a new 60-second ad.
Thurlow didn't serve on Kerry's swiftboat, but says he witnessed the events that led to Kerry winning a Bronze Star and the last of his three Purple Hearts. Kerry's crewmates support the candidate and call him a hero.
- AP