Bitter exchanges over the disappearance of 380 tonnes of explosive in Iraq continue to dominate the US presidential campaign.
As President Bush and Mr John Kerry battle for votes in key swing states in the final days of a tight White House race, Mr Bush finally commented on the disappearance of 380 tons of high-grade explosives which occurred after the US-led invasion.
He slammed his Democratic rival for making "wild charges" and rushing to judgment without facts, but the Massachusetts senator stayed on the attack over the issue for a third consecutive day, accusing the president of attempting to avoid responsibility.
The candidates vied for votes in some of the biggest battleground states six days before Tuesday's election, crisscrossing Pennsylvania, Ohio, Minnesota, Iowa and Michigan as a new Reuters/Zogby poll showed Bush leading 48 per cent to 47 per cent nationally - a statistical dead heat.
"A political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your commander in chief," Mr Bush told supporters at a rally in Pennsylvania.
But Mr Kerry said the missing explosives and Mr Bush's response were an example of the president's weakness as a leader. "We're seeing this White House dodging and bobbing and weaving in their usual effort to avoid responsibility - just as they've done each step of the way in our involvement in Iraq," Mr Kerry said in Sioux City, Iowa.
The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the site where the explosives were held was never secured by the US military after the March 2003 invasion.
The explosives could potentially be used to detonate a nuclear bomb, blow up an airplane or building or many other military applications, experts said.
Mr Bush said the explosives might have disappeared from the Al Qaqaa storage facility before US troops arrived and claimed Mr Kerry was trying to score political points with the issue.
"The military is now investigating a number of possible scenarios including that the explosives may have been moved before our troops even arrived at the site," said Mr Bush, forced to address the issue after two days of silence.
"Think about that, the senator's denigrating the action of our troops and commanders in the field without knowing the facts," he said.
Mr Kerry said the President was trying to blame others for the bad news and also pointed the finger at Vice President Dick Cheney whom he described as the "chief minister of disinformation".
"He even criticised those who raised the subject. . . . This is a growing scandal and the American people deserve a full and honest explanation of how it happened and what this president is going to do about it," Mr Kerry said.