Kerry says president concealed truth on IraqLAS VEGAS -- Senator John F. Kerry told the National Guard Association yesterday that President Bush "failed to tell you the truth" about Iraq when he spoke to the group Tuesday, and asserted that security conditions in Iraq are far graver than described by Bush in his "fantasy world of spin."
Escalating two weeks of attacks on Bush's honesty and ability as commander in chief, Kerry seized on new disclosures that national security officials warned Bush this summer that instability would roil Iraq through 2005 and possibly lead to civil war. Kerry said Bush had "failed that fundamental test of leadership" by concealing the true picture of Iraq from Americans -- such as telling the guardsmen on Tuesday, without qualification, that Iraqi elections would be held in January and that life was improving for Iraqis in spite of ongoing violence. "True leadership is about looking people in the eye and telling them the truth, even when it's hard to hear. He failed to tell you the truth," Kerry said, eliciting a loud, brief boo from one man among the predominantly Republican crowd of several thousand guardsmen gathered for a conference in Las Vegas. "His own intelligence officials have warned him for weeks that the mission in Iraq is in serious trouble," Kerry continued. "I think we deserve a president who isn't going to gild that truth, or gild our national security with politics, who is not going to ignore his own intelligence, who isn't going to live in a world of spin [but] give the American people the truth -- not a fantasy world of spin, but a world where we challenge our brave men and women to be able to meet the test of our times." Kerry said he was not "Monday-morning quarterbacking," but repeating criticisms of Bush and the war that he has made for two years. "We need a leadership that sees . . . better options for getting the job done, leadership that will never mislead you about the realities you face on the battlefield," Kerry said. Kerry's direct assault on Bush's truthfulness -- all but suggesting that the commander in chief was lying to the military, including the Guard, which Bush joined during the Vietnam War -- was the sharpest instance yet of the harsh tone Kerry has adopted this month as he has battled back in the polls. Yesterday, two separate polls indicated that the race has become a virtual tie again, although a Gallup Poll indicated that Bush maintained a double-digit lead two weeks after the Republican National Convention. The Bush campaign responded to Kerry in a speech yesterday evening in Reno by Vice President Dick Cheney, who, according to prepared remarks, said he was "stunned by the audacity of [Kerry's] statement" that he felt US troops deserved full support although the Massachusetts senator voted in 2003 against $87 billion in funding for armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Kerry has characterized that vote as a protest vote, knowing that the $87 billion would pass anyway. "Senator Kerry said today that leadership starts with telling the truth, but the American people also know that true leadership requires the ability to make a decision," Cheney said, according to the advance text. "Senator Kerry today said he would always be straight with the American people on the good days and on the bad days. In Senator Kerry's case, that means when the headlines are good he's for the war, and when his poll numbers are bad he's against it." Cheney also asserted that Kerry's "principles" have shifted with his hiring of new political advisers -- a remark that drew scoffs from the Democrat's camp. Meanwhile, Kerry aides credited two of the new advisers -- former Clinton press secretary Joe Lockhart and Massachusetts political strategist John Sasso -- with sharpening the candidate's attacks on the "wrong choices" Bush has made during his presidency. Campaign officials said Bush's lead in the polls has diminished in part because of the new line of attack. Lockhart, Sasso, and two other Clinton veterans -- former press secretary Michael McCurry and strategist Joel Johnson -- have emerged this week as a powerful new inner circle for Kerry, taking the lead in shaping day-to-day communications and political strategy for the remaining 46 days until Nov. 2. Sasso and McCurry have Kerry's ear and confidence as the two veterans of presidential campaigns now on the plane; Sasso sits in Kerry's cabin more than any other aide and is known among a few staff members on the plane as "the quarterback." In Washington, Lockhart and Johnson -- since arriving a few weeks ago -- yield the greatest sway over communications and counterattack plans while working in concert with campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill, who has been in charge since November. Kerry's advisers were nervous going into yesterday's speech, viewing the audience as overwhelmingly pro-Bush. The president received 32 rounds of enthusiastic applause when he addressed the guardsmen Tuesday. Kerry, by contrast, paused for polite applause 11 times, including two standing ovations, and said afterward that he appreciated the reception. "I know there were some people in there who didn't agree with me before I went in there, and therefore I'm even more respectful of that," Kerry told a local FOX television affiliate. "But there were a lot of people who do agree with me. A lot of people came up to me afterward and said, 'Boy, I'm voting for you, I'm with you, you told the truth, and that was important to have the courage to come here and do it.' " McCurry said the senator had succeeded in his speech: "It's a pretty tough assignment to come to a largely Republican audience of guardsmen who can't applaud criticism of their commander in chief." Kerry made no mention before the guardsmen about continuing questions over whether Bush failed to fulfill all of his obligations in the Texas Air National Guard in the 1970s. In April, when Kerry was under attack for his antiwar activities, he fought back by saying of Bush: "He owes America an explanation about whether or not he showed up for duty in the National Guard -- prove it." In his remarks yesterday on Bush's briefing about the instability in Iraq, Kerry cited a classified federal report prepared for the president in July, called the National Intelligence Estimate, that painted a bleak picture of the political and security landscape in that country. Government officials described the report as sharply pessimistic, in contrast to statements since the summer by Bush, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, and other administration officials emphasizing evidence of progress and positive developments in rebuilding Iraq and improving security in regions.
Patrick Healy can be reached at phealy@globe.com. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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