Kerry Attacks War on Terror, Fails to Offer Alternatives

John Kerry, stung by the criticism of his votes against numerous defense projects, tried to attack President Bush and the War on Terror.

While the Senator was long on accusations, he was woefully short on substance, failing to cite a single instance he considered a "failure" and refusing to provide any alternative strategies.

Kerry said:

We cannot win the war on terror through military power alone.

Kerry did not state what he would be doing differently to combat terror, though. Instead he simply attacked President Bush, saying Iraq is in disarray with U.S. troops bogged down in a deadly guerrilla war with no exit in sight. He said outlying areas of Afghanistan are sliding back into the hands of a resurgent Taliban and emboldened warlords. Kerry provided no evidence to back up his accusations, and instead offered more campaign rhetoric:

I am convinced that we can prove to the American people that we know how to make them safer and more secure with a stronger, more comprehensive, more effective strategy for winning the war on terror than the Bush administration has ever envisioned.

Steve Schmidt, a Bush spokesman, replied:

John Kerry ignored the real progress being made on all fronts of the war on terror, and he ignored his own long voting record that would undermine America's ability to fight the war on terror.

Senators Coleman and Kyl attacked Kerry's record on defense spending as well, arguing that Kerry's record belies his tough anti-terrorism rhetoric. They pointed out that Kerry sponsored a bill to cut intelligence funding and voted more than 38 times to cut weapons programs, many of the same ones used in Afghanistan and Iraq.