Kerry blames Bush war policy for a more 'volatile' world

BALTIMORE -- Senator John F. Kerry blamed President Bush yesterday for making the world "far more tattered and volatile" as a result of the US-led war and year-old occupation in Iraq, and chided his rival for "trying to save face" during meetings this week with European leaders.

The Democrat also declared "absolutely stunning" a Pentagon report that only $400 million had been spent on Iraqi reconstruction out of $18 billion that Congress approved last year -- and that the United States was shouldering about 90 percent of reconstruction costs. Campaign advisers argued that Bush had failed on his promise to rebuild Iraq with international cooperation, while Bush's campaign aides scoffed at the attack, noting that Kerry had voted against those funds for Iraq that he was now holding up for scrutiny.

Marking the transfer of sovereignty in Iraq yesterday at a news conference and in earlier remarks to a nurses' conference, Kerry wished Bush luck at recruiting NATO aid for improving security and rebuilding Iraq, but made clear he did not think much of that diplomacy. He argued that Bush was showing signs of election-year desperation in reaching out to France, Germany, and other opponents of the Iraq war that some officials in his administration had kept at arm's length.

Kerry, referring to news reports yesterday about Bush's talks with European leaders in Ireland and the NATO summit in Turkey, said: "Every article wrote about how Bush is trying to save face at the meeting in Ireland, or Bush is trying to salvage something out of NATO, or Bush is trying to repair his relationship with Turkey, repair his relationship with Germany, repair his relationship with France. The question should appropriately be asked by all Americans -- why do we have a president who four years into his term is in a state of repair or disrepair?"

"The world is far more tattered and volatile than it was when this president came into office, and I believe one of the reasons is the ill-advised way that he went into Iraq," Kerry continued, in remarks during a conference call to the American Nurses Association convention.

The presumptive Democratic nominee has previously called for creating a NATO mission in Iraq, including controlling Iraq's border security, taking responsibility for a sector of the country, and training security forces. NATO appears willing to undertake the last task, and Kerry argued yesterday that it may take a new US president -- namely, him -- to bring along allies like France and Germany to do even more.

"I think NATO needs to recognize its responsibility here, and I regret that the president hasn't brought them to the place where they do," the Massachusetts senator said. He then referred again to newspaper accounts of "how angry these countries are at the way they've been treated by this administration."

"It may well be that it takes a new president to be able to reestablish the relationships that we had in the past," Kerry said.

Kerry's criticisms of Bush carried some risks yesterday, as the White House trumpeted the handover of authority to Iraqis and some Republicans suggested that Kerry was continuing a pessimistic streak of framing any news in a negative light. Yet Kerry spokeswoman Debra DeShong said he was speaking out on such an important day about issues like the costs of reconstruction "because it is important to hold the Bush administration accountable for Iraq."

Kerry, at the news conference at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, said "it is absolutely stunning that of the $18 billion that we approved last year for the reconstruction of Iraq, only $400 million has been spent. Ninety percent of the coalition on the ground is America -- 90 percent -- and 90 percent of the cost is being borne by the American people. I believe it is critical that the president get real support -- not resolutions" from other countries.

Bush campaign spokesman Steve Schmidt yesterday continued his camp's tactic of recent weeks, saying Kerry's criticisms reflected pessimism and misery about the nation's challenges.

Kerry laughed when a reporter told him that the Bush campaign had a video on its reelection website that mixed brief images of Hitler with a collection of angry-looking Democrats delivering speeches; the Hitler images originally appeared in a video that had been on a website of MoveOn.org, a politically progressive group.

"They have a picture of Hitler in an ad with me? With me? I guess they're getting desperate -- I mean, the vice president's reaching for the F-word," Kerry said, a reference to Vice President Dick Cheney's reported use of a vulgarism on the floor of the US Senate last week during a heated back-and-forth with Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.

Patrick Healy can be reached at phealy@globe.com.