Kennedy says Iraq is 'Bush's Vietnam'

WASHINGTON -- Senator Edward M. Kennedy said yesterday that President Bush's Iraq policy is ''ridiculous" and disputed Bush's statement that the 2004 reelection validated the war. Iraq is ''Bush's Vietnam," Kennedy said.

Bush, in an interview with The Washington Post published yesterday, said, ''The American people listened to different assessments made about what was taking place in Iraq, and they looked at the two candidates, and chose me."

Kennedy, asked about Bush's comment on CBS's ''Face The Nation," noted that then-President Lyndon Johnson was easily reelected during the Vietnam War but did not seek reelection in 1968. ''Look what happened," Kennedy said. ''Lyndon Johnson had to basically abdicate the presidency because of Vietnam. . . . This is clearly George Bush's Vietnam."

Bush, in the interview with the Post, said he wanted to withdraw troops ''as quickly as possible," but he did not express agreement with a statement by departing Secretary of State Colin L. Powell that troops could begin coming home later this year.

The troops ''won't be leaving until we have completed our mission," Bush said. ''And part of the mission is to train Iraqis so they can fight the terrorists."

Kennedy, asked whether the United States should think about withdrawing from Iraq, responded, ''We cannot continue the way that we are continuing." The Massachusetts Democrat opposed the resolution that gave Bush the authority to go to war and has been consistently critical of Bush's conduct of the conflict.

''The policy is ridiculous," Kennedy said. ''The policy is blunder after blunder."

Kennedy, in the CBS interview, said Bush won reelection because he waged a better campaign than Senator John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts.

Kennedy's former chief of staff, Mary Beth Cahill, ran Kerry's campaign at Kennedy's suggestion. ''I think John Kerry ran an excellent campaign. I think President Bush ran a better campaign," Kennedy said.

Like many Democrats, Kennedy refuted Bush's oft-repeated statement that the Social Security system is in crisis. Kennedy said that taxpayers eventually would receive three-fourths of the benefits if no changes are made, but that the system can be restored by raising payroll taxes.

Michael Kranish can be reached at kranish@globe.com.