Kerry questions Bush's motives on sticking to Iraq deadline

CINCINNATI -- A day after Senator Edward M. Kennedy labeled Iraq "George Bush's Vietnam," John F. Kerry yesterday accused the administration of failing to conduct the necessary diplomacy to bring international peacekeepers to the nation and of having political motives in setting a June 30th deadline for transferring control to the Iraqi people.

"I think they wanted to get the troops out and get the transfer out of the way as fast as possible with regard to the stability of Iraq," the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee told reporters after a speech to several thousand on the banks of the Ohio River. "The test ought to be the stability of Iraq, not an arbitrary deadline."

Earlier, during an interview with National Public Radio, Kerry suggested that adhering to the date, without regard to whether the new Democratic government can maintain control in the country, will result only in token changes.

"There'll be some sort of symbolic transfer, but you won't see that much transition in what's happening. And once again, this administration is trading in fiction, trading in sort of the wishes and ideology, not in practical diplomacy that serves the needs of the United States," the Massachusetts senator said on the program.

"Every day that goes by that they don't do what's right, they complicate America's role there," Kerry said. "Now, could we be successful in the long run? I have said again and again, it is possible. The question is, `At what cost?' " Dozens of American troops have been killed in the fighting since the weekend.

Throughout his interviews and speechmaking yesterday, Kerry peppered his remarks with words and phrases that questioned the truthfulness of Bush and members of his administration.

"I think this administration has a truth deficit with the people of the United States," he said. "Almost every promise they have made to this country, they have broken."

Asked during his news conference whether he was calling the president a liar, Kerry demurred and referred reporters to his previous statements.

"Those are the terms I've used. I'm happy with the terms that I've chosen," he said.

Bush spokesman Steve Schmidt said: "Pessimism and anger are not an agenda for America's future. It's another highly personal attack by Senator Kerry, and the motive is clear: He is getting ready to do a budget speech and his new spending promises -- $2 trillion over 10 years -- means there is going to be a massive tax increase on middle-class Americans. And he would rather attack than defend his proposals."

Both sides have made integrity a central issue in their campaigns.

Bush has accused Kerry of flip-flopping on major issues, such as opposing the Iraq war after voting in Congress to authorize it, and yesterday about a dozen Bush supporters stood in the crowd about 20 feet from Kerry waving pairs of flip-flops over their heads as the senator spoke.

Kerry, meanwhile, has begun to tick through a list of what he says are broken promises by the administration, suggesting the president cannot be trusted on either domestic or foreign policy.

As the Republicans waved their sandals in his face, Kerry said, "Obviously some young Republicans are proving that they are very rude and they have no manners. They don't want to hear the truth about the real deficit in our nation."

Kerry went on to argue that Bush had failed to do little to prevent US companies from heading overseas or exploiting tax laws to avoid paying corporate income taxes, underscoring an economic theme he has been pushing all week.

"I could run through the long list of broken promises of this president. I mean, you want to talk about flips and flops. This president said one day [national security adviser] Condoleezza Rice wasn't going to testify; next day she's going to testify. This president said we can afford big tax cuts, we wouldn't have a deficit; we've got the biggest deficit in the history of the country," he said. "Ladies and gentlemen, I think it is clear that we deserve truth in Washington."

Today Kerry unveils his version of a 2005 federal budget, which would cover the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com.