US: President Bush hit back at John Kerry's criticisms of his Iraq policy yesterday, accusing his rival of sending "mixed signals" on Iraq that threatened the morale of American troops and undermined the determination of Iraqis to face down insurgents, writes Conor O'Clery North America Editor in New York
In a one-two counter punch, the Vice-President, Mr Dick Cheney, told reporters on Capitol Hill that Mr Kerry "conveyed the impression that you can force the US to change course" in Iraq, and that the country could not afford a leader whose views were marked by "confusion and indecision".
In a blistering attack on the Democratic challenger, Mr Bush told a rally on the outskirts of Philadelphia: "You cannot lead the war against terror if you wilt or waver when times get tough.
"You cannot expect the Iraqi people to stand up and do the hard work of democracy if you're pessimistic about their ability to govern themselves," he said.
"You cannot expect our troops to continue to do the hard work if they hear mixed messages from Washington, DC."
In his 37th visit to the battleground state he lost in 2000 Mr Bush also mocked what he called Mr Kerry's "many different positions on Iraq". This charge was reinforced by a new Republican campaign advertisement showing Mr Kerry windsurfing with a voice-over to background music from the Blue Danube Waltz saying: "John Kerry: whichever way the wind blows."
The voice says: "Kerry voted for the Iraq war, opposed it, supported it, and now opposes it again. He bragged about voting for the $87 billion to support our troops before he voted against it. He voted for education reform and now opposes it. He claims he's against increasing Medicare premiums but voted five times to do so."
The Kerry campaign immediately launched a response in a television commercial accusing the Bush-Cheney campaign of launching "juvenile attack ads" while thousands of terrorists were crossing into Iraq.
A more hard-hitting anti-Kerry commercial was launched yesterday by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group that has challenged the Vietnam combat record of the Massachusetts senator. The advertisement cites the candidate's "secret" visit to Paris in 1970 where he met with members of two North Vietnamese delegations.
It compares him to war protester Jane Fonda, who visited Hanoi, and asks: "In a time of war, can America trust a man who betrayed his country?"
The Kerry campaign said the visits were not secret and that Mr Kerry told Congress in his 1971 testimony on Vietnam that he met with Viet Cong spokeswoman Madame Nguyen Thi Binh and Viet Cong leaders to help get American prisoners of war released and end the war. Henry Kissinger met secretly with Viet Cong leaders in Paris and received the Nobel Prize.
"This is a group which has as much credibility as a tabloid magazine," said a Kerry campaign spokesman. "The American people are tired of this kind of junkyard politics. They want an honest discussion about how we're going to clean up the mess in Iraq and strengthen our economy."
Mr Kerry campaigned with running mate Senator John Edwards in Florida, where he described Mr Bush's proposal to partially privatise social security as "a rip-off" that would create a windfall for financial and investment firms.
In Michigan earlier yesterday Mr Cheney continued to insist on a connection between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein as a reason for going to war. The bipartisan commission that investigated the 9/11 attacks concluded some months ago that there were no operational ties between the two.
Iraq was a terror-sponsoring state and "there was a relationship with al-Qaeda" Mr Cheney told a Republican event.
Departing from his normal upbeat assessment of Afghanistan and Iraq, however, Mr Cheney said that in Iraq "[we are\] not as far along" as Afghanistan and "we will have to anticipate a high level of violence".
Mr Kerry said on Tuesday that the world was better off without Saddam Hussein but "that doesn't mean you go to war in an irresponsible way". He accused the President of failing to tell the American people "why are our troops are facing more terrorists than ever before".