Cheney, Kerry trade blows over the invasion of Iraq

SIMI VALLEY - Vice-President Dick Cheney and Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry traded verbal blows yesterday over American policy on Iraq as the United States prepared to mark the first anniversary of the US-led invasion.

Cheney called Kerry weak on defence and dismissive of US allies on Iraq.

Kerry accused President George W. Bush of stubbornly pursuing a failed policy that had weakened the military and driven away allies.

The Democrat said there was "no end in sight" to the daily dangers faced by US soldiers in Iraq despite Bush's declaration on an aircraft carrier last May of "mission accomplished".

"We are still bogged down in Iraq - and the Administration stubbornly holds to failed, unilateral policies that drive ... allies away," Kerry said.

"But the answer is not a stubborn pursuit of the same arrogant policies," he said. "Instead we have to return more effectively to the international community."

Cheney rejected Kerry's criticism that the US-led 34-nation coalition on Iraq was merely "window-dressing" and a "coalition of the coerced and the bribed".

"If such dismissive terms are the vernacular of the golden age of diplomacy Senator Kerry promises, we're left to wonder which nations would care to join any future coalition," Cheney said.

The Kerry campaign issued an email response entitled "Cheney comes out of the bunker: But ... he's the wrong man to challenge John Kerry on defence".

The response quoted Cheney as saying after the 1991 Gulf War that he had no regrets about leaving Saddam Hussein in power, because if coalition forces had gone on to Baghdad after driving Iraqi forces from Kuwait "the US would have been all alone".

Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, said the US military was more extended than at any time in a generation.

"We are weaker today militarily than we should be, but this Administration stubbornly refuses to admit it," Kerry said. "Soldiers in Iraq are paying the price every day."

Kerry was joined on stage by former Defence Secretary William Perry, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman John Shalikashvili.

Kerry said he would not hesitate to use force when needed in the war on terrorism.

He said Bush had not lived up to promises to help military families, leaving troops in need of medical care, vehicles in need of armour and soldiers in need of body armour.

Kerry criticised Bush for decrying the readiness of the military during the 2000 campaign and then praising its performance in Afghanistan and Iraq after the September 11, 2001, attacks.

He also said Bush's failure to build more international support for the war in Iraq had led to an increased strain on the military.

"If we had built a true coalition, they would not have to fight almost alone - and Americans would not have to bear almost all the costs in Iraq."

Verbal volleys

DICK CHENEY

"As a result, America's friends know they can trust, and America's enemies know they can fear, the decisive leadership of President George W. Bush."

JOHN KERRY

"We are still bogged down in Iraq, and the Administration stubbornly holds to failed policies that drive potential allies away."


- REUTERS