Democratic White House challenger Senator John Kerry on Friday accused US President George W. Bush's administration of trying to scare Americans over the war on terror.
Speaking on the eve of commemorations for the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, Kerry said the battle against terrorism should be more than a political battle in the US.
Kerry told an election rally in St Louis, Missouri, that the administration was "talking about the war on terror, trying to scare Americans.
"It is real, we've got a war, we've got a problem but we should do more than just talk about it, try to scare people about it and make it a political issue," he charged.
Kerry also linked the war on terror to Bush's "failure" to urge the Republican-held Congress to extend a 10-year-old US assault weapons ban that expires tomorrow.
He said reports showed that an al-Qaeda training manual recovered in Afghanistan included a chapter urging extremists to get assault weapons in the US.
"Why is George Bush making the job of the terrorists easier and making the job for America's police officers harder?" Kerry said in a statement.
"I stand with the vast majority of the American people and call on George W. Bush to protect our police -- and our security -- and keep assault weapons off our street," he said.
Opinion polls show that a majority of Americans support the ban.
The right to own a gun is a sensitive issue in the US, where gun ownership is protected under the Second Amendment, giving Americans the right "to keep and bear Arms."
Although he supports the assault weapons ban, Kerry noted that he was a gun owner and hunter who believes in the Second Amendment.
Democrats and Republicans have clashed over who can better defend the country against terrorism, with Republican leaders questioning Kerry's ability to protect the US.
On Thursday, Kerry, who has said he would conduct a more "sensitive" war on terror than Bush, said he would wage a "smarter" war on terror than Bush.
Vice President Dick Cheney said on Tuesday that there would be a greater risk of a major new attack on the US if voters made the "wrong choice" in the Nov. 2 presidential election.
John Edwards, Kerry's vice presidential running mate, accused Cheney of using "scare tactics" in the election campaign.
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