Democratic White House challenger John Kerry accused US President George W. Bush on Wednesday of being more interested in election-year photo opportunities than providing funds to defend against another Sept. 11-type attack.
Kerry used the new concerns this week about a possible attack on the US before the November presidential election to step up his criticism of Bush, who has hoped to make his war on terror a centerpiece of his re-election campaign.
The Massachusetts senator blamed Bush for inadequately secured ports, chemical plants and nuclear facilities, underfunded fire stations and cutbacks in a federal program designed to put more police on the street.
"We deserve a president of the United States who doesn't make homeland security a photo opportunity and the rhetoric of a campaign," Kerry told a rainy-day rally of a few thousand people in Seattle.
"We deserve a president who makes America safer," Kerry declared, drawing sustained applause and cheers.
"We should not be opening firehouses in Baghdad and shutting them in the United States of America," Kerry said.
Kerry admitted the US could not protect every potential target, but added: "What we can do is protect against catastrophe. What we can do is protect those places that are the most logical places for the largest potential damage."
He complained that Bush, who has repeatedly cut taxes to the delight of fellow conservatives, had failed to provide states and localities with the money they needed to do their job.
"We deserve a president who puts American taxpayer dollars where the need is, not just where the ideology wants it to go," Kerry said.
Steve Schmidt, a Bush campaign spokesman, dismissed Kerry's attacks as "baseless and factually inaccurate."
Since 2001, Schmidt said, "President Bush has distributed more than US$13 billion to state and local law enforcement" for anti-terror efforts.
Kerry made the remarks the day before what aides say will be a major address in Seattle on foreign policy, national security and the war in Iraq.
Polls show Kerry running about even with or slightly ahead of Bush in the White House race.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique