US President George W. Bush charged on Monday that Senator John Kerry's policies "are dangerous for world peace" as his campaign suddenly changed plans for holding an event on medical liability today and scheduled a speech by the president on terrorism and the economy instead.
On the eve of the vice-presidential debate, with polls showing that Bush lost ground after his performance in the debate with Kerry last Thursday, pressure on the White House to regain the upper hand appeared to be mounting.
To that end, Bush flew to Iowa, one of the nation's most closely contested states, to sign into law extensions of three popular middle-class tax cuts that he said Kerry opposed and that Kerry's campaign said he did not.
Then Bush hit Kerry in harsh terms on national security by reprising Kerry's vote against the 1991 war to drive Iraq from Kuwait.
"In 1991, when my dad was president, he saw a threat, and that was that Saddam Hussein was going to overrun Kuwait," said Bush, who appeared relaxed and in good spirits at an "Ask President Bush" campaign forum, despite the generally negative reviews of his debate performance last week.
If Kerry's vote had carried the day, Bush said, "Saddam would not only have been in his palaces, that means he would have been in Kuwait as well. The policies of my opponent are dangerous for world peace. If they were implemented, they would make this world not more peaceful, but more dangerous."
The president also stepped up his ridicule of Kerry for a plan to hold an international summit to help solve the problems in Iraq.
"I've been to summits," Bush said as he paced in his shirtsleeves at the 7 Flags recreation center in Clive. "You don't bring terrorists to justice at summits. I can imagine him walking in to the leaders of the world saying, `We need your help, but Iraq is a mistake.'"
Kerry, Bush said, "has no plan. A summit won't solve the problem. Strong, consistent leadership is what this world needs."
Phil Singer, a spokesman for the Kerry campaign, responded: "If George Bush thinks John Kerry's plans to strengthen the military, build alliances, and implement the 9/11 commission's intelligence reforms will make the world a more dangerous place, he's even more detached from reality than he demonstrated at the debate the other night."
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese