Democratic White House challenger John Kerry on Thursday proposed a sweeping national security strategy to better combat terror and repair the damage he said had been caused by what he called US President George W. Bush's go-it-alone bullying.
"There is still a powerful yearning around the world for an America that listens and leads again -- an America that is respected, and not just feared," Kerry declared in what was billed as a major policy address that he also used to step up his criticism of Bush's handling of Iraq.
While Kerry vowed to set a different tone than Bush, exactly how his foreign policy would deviate remained unclear.
PHOTO: AFP
On key issues like Iraq and Israel, they share plenty of common ground.
Kerry outlined a security strategy based on four "principled imperatives": building a new era of US-led alliances; modernizing the military to meet fresh threats; better use of diplomatic, intelligence and economic power, and freeing the US from its "dangerous dependence" on Middle East oil.
"As president, my No. 1 security goal will be to prevent the terrorists from gaining weapons of mass murder," Kerry said. "Because al-Qaida is a network with many branches, we must take the fight to the enemy on every continent and enlist other countries in that cause."
Kerry unveiled his proposal three days after Bush delivered a speech to try to ease worldwide concerns about his embattled efforts in war-torn Iraq.
These concerns have helped pull Bush's approval ratings to below 50 percent, the lowest of his presidency.
Surveys show Kerry running even with or slightly ahead of the Republican incumbent in the race for the White House.
Steve Schmidt, a spokesman for the Bush campaign, dismissed Kerry's speech as "harsh political rhetoric" that included no new initiatives separate from what Bush has already proposed.
"In addition, the ideas John Kerry offered today directly contradict with positions he has taken in the past," Schmidt said, adding he "ignores the fact that more than 30 nations stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States in Iraq."
Kerry backed a congressional resolution that authorized the use of force in Iraq.
He has also long accused the Bush administration of inadequately reaching out to allies for help.
"They looked to force before exhausting diplomacy," Kerry said.
"They bullied when they should have persuaded. They have gone it alone when they should have assembled a team," he said.
Kerry said Bush should try to persuade NATO "to accept Iraq as an alliance mission" at a NATO summit in Istanbul next month.
But the US signaled on Thursday it would not press reluctant NATO partners to agree on a such a role.
"The stakes in Iraq couldn't be higher," Kerry said.
"If President Bush doesn't change course and doesn't secure new support from our allies, we will, once again feel the consequences of a foreign policy that has divided the world instead of uniting it," he said.
Kerry also issued a message to terrorists who federal authorities said this week may be planning an attack on the US before the November elections.
"Let there be not doubt -- this country is united in its determination to destroy you," Kerry said.
"As commander in chief, I will bring the full force of our nation's power to bear on finding and crushing your networks," he said.
Later on Thursday at a rally in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Kerry drew cheers from a crowd of more than 1,000 people, many of them fellow military veterans, when he vowed: "I will be a president who never sends our troops into harm's way without enough troops to get the job done and without a plan to win the peace."
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