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Kerry attacks Bush on Iraq in debate By James Harding in Coral Gables, Florida Published: October 1 2004 01:10 | Last updated: October 1 2004 01:10 http://news.ft.com/cms/s/1d4e2106-133e-11d9-b869-00000e2511c8.html
John Kerry made a biting and tightly-argued challenge to George W. Bush's leadership in the war on terror in the first presidential debate on Thursday night, criticising the US president for launching the war in Iraq while Osama bin Laden remains at large.
In a debate in which Mr Bush at times appeared irritated by Mr Kerry's criticisms, the president effectively channeled public attention to questions about Sen Kerry's consistency and argued that his Democratic challenger will be unable to lead a war he now says is wrong.
The debate had been seen as a critical, perhaps even the decisive, moment in the 2004 election, as an estimated audience of 50m people nearly double the size of the television audiences for the party conventions sized up the two candidates.
The Kerry campaign staff emerged after the debate elated by their candidate's performance, while Mr Bush's aides were pressed by reporters to explain the president's halting responses and apparent displays of testiness.
But in a debate which revolved around the Iraq war, a divided nation was likely to have been confirmed in its contrasting views of each man: Mr Kerry's supporters saw a man with an agile mind and aptitude for debate promising "a fresh start, a new credibility, a president who can bring allies to our side"; Mr Bush's admirers saw a president who may sometimes stumble over his vocabulary, but a commander-in-chief who "chases these terrorists down and bring[s] them to justice before they hurt us again."
Mr Bush repeatedly made the charge that Mr Kerry is sending "mixed signals" to US troops in Iraq, America's allies and the Iraqis themselves, by claiming to be able to win a war he deems a mistake.
The most engaging exchange of the evening came when the moderator, Jim Lehrer, asked Mr Bush to assess whether Mr Kerry was fit to be commander-in-chief.
Mr Bush responded with a display of the courtesy and gentility which has been one of the features of his personal political style, praising Mr Kerry for his military service and for being a great father, but then emphasising that he was the candidate who had the resolve to lead America. Sen Kerry responded with admiration for Mr Bush's family, particularly Laura Bush, but then turned on the central question of character: "This issue of certainty. It's one thing to be certain, but you can be certain and be wrong certainty sometimes can get you in trouble."
Mr Bush's chief attack on Mr Kerry's claim to be able to bring fresh international assistance into Iraq was summed up in a sarcastic rebuttal: "He says the cornerstone of his plan to succeed in Iraq is to call upon nations to serve. So what's the message going to be: Please join us in Iraq. We're a grand diversion. Join us for a war that is the wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time?'"
The two men also clashed substantively over North Korea, Mr Kerry arguing for bilateral talks with Pyongyang while Mr Bush countered that such an approach would unravel the multilateral talks involving, most importantly, China.
Mr Bush and Mr Kerry both described the killing in Darfur, Sudan as genocide, but only Mr Kerry acknowledged the possibility of committing US forces in order to prevent another Rwanda and meet a "moral responsibility".
There was no single moment which sealed the debate for one man, not a factual error like Gerald Ford's 1976 claim that Poland had never been under Soviet domination or George H.W. Bush's glance at his watch in 1992.
Both men had a few verbal gaffes: Mr Bush said the enemy in Iraq is fighting "vociferously" and when Mr Kerry reminded him that it was not Saddam Hussein, but Osama bin Laden, who had attacked the US. The president's response was petulant: "First of all, of course I know Osama bin Laden attacked us. I know that."
Mr Bush, meanwhile, picked up on Mr Kerry's claim that only US, Australia and the UK invaded Iraq, the president pounced on him for forgetting Poland. Later Mr Bush attacked Mr Kerry for changing positions: "How can I follow this guy?" he asked.
But ahead of the debate, there was a sense that Mr Bush could effectively seal the election by winning the debate on Thursday night. That, judging by the unreliable instant polls, did not happen.
The Gallup poll had Mr Kerry winning by 53 per cent to 37 per cent, CBS had Mr Kerry winning by 44 per cent to 26 per cent with 30 per cent saying it was a tie and ABC had Mr Kerry 45 per cent to 36 per cent with 17 per cent saying it was a tie.