Kerry Blasts Bush On Iraq
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry on Friday accused President Bush of a "failure of leadership" in the conduct of the war in Iraq, contending the president has also failed to minimize the risks for American soldiers as well as the costs for taxpayers.
"This administration has been gridlocked by its own ideology, its own arrogance," Kerry told about two-dozen Democratic donors at a breakfast meeting. "We can succeed but, boy, it's a lot tougher than it has to be."
In a campaign swing through Midwestern industrial states suffering amid a stagnant economy, Kerry was seeking to focus on jobs. Questions about the violence in Iraq were pulling him off that message.
"This administration has stubbornly refused to involve other countries in the real decision-making," he told donors. "I think this has been a failure of diplomacy, a failure of foreign policy."
Kerry's comments came as a new CBS News poll showed that the U.S. and coalition casualties in Iraq were continuing to take a toll on opinions about the Bush administration's policies there.
Just over a third of Americans, 34 percent, now say the result of the war is worth the costs, down from 39 percent one week ago. Fifty-seven percent, the largest number ever in CBS News polls, say the war is not worth the costs.
Nearly 60 percent of Americans now say things are going somewhat badly or very badly for the U.S. in Iraq.
Kerry set aside time to raise campaign cash from Democratic activists, collecting more than $1 million at a dinner Thursday night. Although he will be unable to match the nearly $200 million that Mr. Bush has raised, he said he will be competitive financially. "All of our fund-raisers have been breaking records," he said.
Kerry on Friday was touring a job training site and discussing economic issues with Barack Obama, the Democratic Senate nominee for an open seat in Illinois for which Democrats have high hopes. He was also meeting privately with veteran activist Jesse Jackson to map strategies for energizing black voters.
The fighting in Iraq has claimed nearly three dozen American lives since last weekend and has left the nation confronted with images of violence on the battlefield. Kerry acknowledged their emotional power and urged that other nations be given a greater role to ease the burden on the United States.
"I hope that in the days ahead common sense and humility will begin to emerge in the approach of our nation and our policy so that we do not see month after month of these images and difficulties," he said.
Adding to the difficulty Kerry faces in shifting the debate was the attention given national security adviser Condoleezza Rice's testimony Thursday before the 9-11 commission. Kerry said he wouldn't comment on individual testimony until the commission makes its report, even though testimony dominated the day's public debate.
Kerry's Midwestern swing will take him into a relatively quiet Easter weekend, which he is plans to spend with his family before launching a tour of college campuses next week in hopes of getting younger voters to the polls. He was pairing all of his campaign stops with fund-raising events.
President Bush, meanwhile, remained off the campaign trail at his Texas ranch, where he'll stay through Easter Sunday.
CBS News Correspondent Mark Knoller reports Mr. Bush had an hour-long meeting Friday via secure video hookup with members of his National Security Council, including top U.S. officials in Iraq. He also spoke with the leaders of three members of the U.S.-led coalition – Italy, Poland and El Salvador, which together have nearly 5,800 troops and other personnel in Iraq.
On Thursday, the White House said the president watched Rice's testimony before the Sept. 11 commission on television and thought she "did a terrific job."