Candidates spar over Iraq

By Dana Milbank and Jim VandeHei
The Washington Post

WILFREDO LEE / AP First Lady Laura Bush joins President Bush on stage last night after the debate in Coral Gables, Fla.

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In their first face-to-face meeting, the presidential candidates repeatedly returned to the themes that have dominated the campaign. The Massachusetts senator repeatedly accused the president of "misleading" the nation as he went to war, while Bush said nine times that Kerry's "mixed message" and "mixed signals" mean he does not have the steadiness to be an effective commander in chief.

"The president has made, I regret to say, a colossal error of judgment, and judgment is what we look for in the president of the United States of America," Kerry said of the war. "I would not take my eye off of the goal: Osama bin Laden."

Bush countered that Kerry's criticism of the war in Iraq would make it impossible for Kerry to lead allies to victory there. "What's the message going to be: Please join us in Iraq for a 'grand diversion?' " Bush asked. Allies, he said, "are not going to follow somebody who says this is the wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time. They're not going to follow somebody whose core convictions keep changing because of politics in America."

	JEFF HAYNES / AFP/ GETTY IMAGES Sen. John Kerry, with his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, waves at the audience after the debate.

Although it will take days to determine how the millions of viewers reacted to the debate, there were no glaring mistakes or major triumphs by either candidate. Kerry sharply questioned the president's credibility and highlighted his own ability to serve as commander in chief. Yet he placed less emphasis on how he would do things better, or differently, than Bush.

Bush repeatedly talked about how difficult the war was, and spoke most passionately about praying and crying with the wife of a fallen soldier. "I told her her husband's sacrifice was noble and worthy, because I understand the stakes in the war on terror," he said. "Every life is precious."

Both parties viewed the debate as the best — and possibly last — chance for Kerry to erase the narrow but consistent lead Bush has had in opinion polls nationally and in key electoral states. The networks' polls of undecided voters immediately after the debate all gave Kerry the edge.

Kerry, who has been criticized by a group of Vietnam veterans for leading anti-war demonstrations and talking about how U.S. soldiers committed war crimes, said his experience in the early 1970s taught him to speak out in troubled times. He hearkened back to that era when asked whether the Iraq war has been worth the cost in lives. "It reminds me it is vital for us not to confuse the war — ever — with the warrior. That happened before," he said. Kerry sought to turn the president's laserlike focus on consistency against him. "It is one thing to be certain. But you can be certain and be wrong."

Debate lineup Vice presidential debate Tuesday, Oct. 5 Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. Moderator: Gwen Ifil Presidential debates Friday, Oct. 8 Washington University, St. Louis, Mo., no subject restrictions. Moderator: Charlie Gibson Wednesday, Oct. 13 Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz. Theme: domestic and economic policy. Moderator: Bob Scheiffer

Each man appealed to the fear and unease in the nation by suggesting his opponent would be a more dangerous choice. Bush charged that Kerry is too weak to lead a fight against terrorists overseas, while Kerry charged that Bush's focus on Iraq has caused him to lose credibility and has deprived the country of money to secure the homeland.

The candidates hewed to their well-known styles. Kerry cited many statistics and used sometimes-elaborate arguments to make his point. Bush frequently employed slogans from his campaign stump and often put Kerry on the defensive by shifting from questions about his record to questions about Kerry's capabilities.

The debate revisited many of the well-known disagreements from the campaign and repeatedly returned to its central themes: Kerry doubting Bush's credibility at home and abroad, and Bush doubting Kerry's ability to command and not "waver."

Kerry suggested that Bush could have captured bin Laden. "We had him surrounded, but we didn't use American forces, the best-trained in the world, to go kill him," Kerry said. "The president relied on Afghan warlords that he outsourced that job to."

Bush argued that Iraq and the fight against terrorism were inseparable, saying: "A free Iraq is essential for the security of this country."

He sought to portray Kerry as believing that Iraq's Saddam Hussein was not a threat. Kerry, Bush stated, said "that anyone who doubts that the world is safer without Saddam Hussein does not have the judgment to be president. I agree with him. The world is better off without Saddam Hussein."

As he often does on the stump, Bush ridiculed Kerry's vote against a spending bill for Iraq and Afghanistan and the Democrat's explanation that he voted for it "before I voted against it." "That's not what a commander in chief does when you're trying to lead troops," Bush said.

Kerry ceded the point but sought to portray Bush's errors as greater. "I made a mistake in how I talk about the war," Kerry said, "but the president made a mistake in invading Iraq. Which is worse?"

Each candidate caricatured and exaggerated his opponent's positions. But the debate, coming after a campaign full of attack ads and bitter disputes about each man's service decades ago during the Vietnam War, was relatively high-minded and substantive. The two men even took time to praise each other, Bush noting Kerry's relationship with his daughters and Kerry offering kind words for the first lady.

"I believe President Bush and I both love our country equally, but we just have a different set of convictions about how you make America safe," Kerry said, criticizing Bush for shunning alliances. "This president has left them in shatters across the globe, and we're now 90 percent of the casualties in Iraq and 90 percent of the costs. I think that's wrong, and I think we can do better."

Kerry portrayed Saddam as a threat but not as the most important one. "The president moved the troops so he's got 10 times the number of troops in Iraq than he has in Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden is," he said. "Does that mean that Saddam Hussein was 10 times more important than Osama bin Laden? I don't think so."

Bush avoided a question about whether the country would be more susceptible to terrorist attack under Kerry — something Bush's campaign has often done. "I don't believe it's going to happen. I believe I'm going to win, because the American people know I know how to lead," Bush said. "I understand everybody in this country doesn't agree with the decisions that I've made. And I've made some tough decisions. But people know where I stand."

The two quarreled over the link between Iraq and the fight against terrorists. "Of course Iraq is a central part of the war on terror," Bush said.

Kerry, by contrast, said Bush chose war in Iraq rather than spending on security at home. "This president thought it was more important to give the wealthiest people in America a tax cut rather than invest in homeland security," he said. Kerry often hearkened back to his decorated service in Vietnam and protests afterward to drive home the point that he has experienced war firsthand and knows to sound alarms when things slide off track. He hammered home his belief that Bush lacks credibility in Iraq and that only a "fresh start and new credibility" will bring success.

The candidates disagreed most sharply on North Korea, which during Bush's term has evicted international inspectors and reprocessed enough plutonium to produce a half-dozen nuclear weapons. Kerry called for bilateral talks to persuade the North Korean government to give up its weapons. Bush blasted that idea as a "serious mistake," saying it would end the multination diplomacy under way by the administration.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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