Nothing But Politics

[Rick Faurot]

Kerry: Bush Dropped Ball on Terror with War in Iraq
Fri Sep 24, 2004 01:00 PM ET


By Patricia Wilson
PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Democratic candidate John Kerry accused President Bush on Friday of neglecting the fight against terrorism by going to war in Iraq and said his Republican rival had left America less safe.

Kerry trained his sights on Bush's perceived strength -- his leadership after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States -- and accused the president of taking his "eye off the ball" in a struggle "as monumental as the Cold War."

"Instead of finishing the job in Afghanistan, the president rushed to a new war in Iraq," the Massachusetts senator said in a speech at Temple University. "The invasion of Iraq was a profound diversion from the battle against our greatest enemy -- Al Qaeda."

"As president, I will finish the job in Iraq and refocus our energies on the real war on terror."