Posted on 08/29/2004 2:27:25 PM PDT by wagglebee
WHEELING, W.Va. (AP) - President Bush said Sunday that Democrat John Kerry is using "upside-down" logic when he says terrorists' recruiting efforts are getting a boost from the war on terrorism.
"During the '90s, the terrorists were recruiting and training and plotting for war with us long before we went to war with them," said Bush, campaigning for re-election in West Virginia.
Sen. Kerry of Massachusetts, Bush's Democratic rival, has said administration policies create anti-American sentiment around the world and encourage rather than discourage people to join terrorist cells.
"I think it's wrong to provide excuses for their (terrorists') hatred," Bush said. "You don't create terrorists by fighting back. You defeat the terrorists by fighting back."
Kerry, too, says he would vigorously press the war on terrorism but also says he would work harder to gain help from other countries for ending the fighting and rebuilding Iraq.
Bush defends his actions in Iraq at nearly every stop on the campaign trail, his hardline rhetoric prompting cheers from supporters packing his rallies.
However, in an interview with Time magazine, Bush suggested that he would have used different tactics to invade Iraq had he known "that an enemy that should have surrendered or been done in escaped and lived to fight another day."
He called the swift military offensive that led to the fall of Baghdad in April 2003 "a catastrophic success" in light of the fact that fighting continues to this day despite the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's government.
That brought a dismissive response from Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards.
"President Bush now says his Iraq policy is a catastrophic success. He's half right. It was catastrophic to rush to war without a plan to win the peace," Edwards said.
Inside the hall where Bush spoke, supporters did a stadium-style wave with large blue and yellow signs cut in the shape of Ws. Kerry supporters stood outside the entrance to the rally site, one holding a sign that said "'W' orst President" and "Intelligence Failure Begins with the President."
Bush spoke in Wheeling as Republican delegates converged on New York City for the convention that will nominate him for a second term. For his campaign stop, he chose an industrial city nestled between two states, Pennsylvania and Ohio, that are election tossups, as is West Virginia.
Before his speech, Bush met with six workers from the steel industry. He was introduced by Rick Casini, union shop steward at Weirton Steel in Wheeling, who called Bush "the man who saved steel."
Bush imposed tariffs on imported steel for 20 months to give the U.S. industry time to restructure. Some unions and steelworkers say the tariffs should have been left in place much longer.
Sunday's visit to West Virginia was Bush's 13th as president and seventh so far this year. Kerry has campaigned in the state five times. Vice President Dick Cheney and Edwards also have campaigned in the state. Edwards was in Nitro last weekend and will be in Beckley on Tuesday.
The president and first lady Laura Bush attended a worship service Sunday morning at a church across from the White House. Then the president changed clothes and headed off to ride his bike on the grounds of a Secret Service training facility in Beltsville, Md., near Washington.
After returning to the White House, aides said, Bush planned to rehearse the speech he will deliver Thursday at the convention. On Monday, Bush is back on the campaign trail with stops in Nashua, N.H., and Taylor, Mich.
Damn right!
Go Bush!
Well Said!
The only thing Kerry can do is lie about this support he has from foreign leaders who mean America harm.
Excellent!
You don't create terrorists by fighting back. You defeat the terrorists by fighting back.
Bush imposed tariffs on imported steel for 20 months to give the U.S. industry time to restructure.
Many folks bitched about those temporary tariffs then but it paying off now
..who called Bush "the man who saved steel."
He could have said "the man of steel who saved steel."!
Go Bush!!
"I think it's wrong to provide excuses for their (terrorists') hatred," Bush said. "You don't create terrorists by fighting back. You defeat the terrorists by fighting back."But don't think Kerry wouldn't fight back. He would fight back in a nuanced, sensitive way. He would fight back before (and I mean JUST before) he would NOT fight back. He would fight back against the root causes of why everyone hates us--by making us no longer a superpower. He would do things like that which you never hear Bush even talk about but any Democrat does by instinct.
Oh...so those guys on 9/11 were pro-American?
"Upside down logic" well that's one way to describe a traitor's reasoning.
Oh...so those guys on 9/11 were pro-American?
I think sKerry means that OBL is pro-Kerry.
Al Gore was right about one thing. What's uuuuuuuuuuuup is dooooooooooown. :^)
"Sen. Kerry of Massachusetts, Bush's Democratic rival, has said administration policies create anti-American sentiment around the world and encourage rather than discourage people to join terrorist cells."
What a wimp! "Oh, no, we should all jump into the ocean closest to us so we do not offend anyone in the whole world. After all, we are responsible for them having bad thoughts and feelings. So we are evil, and they are good."
What a whiner!
Note to JFK: Please - join the Peace Corps where you can assuage your self-inflicted guilt by doing things for the impoverished. Do not try to be President - we will not be able to live through your gutless leadership for four interminable years.
Kill them, sensitively of course.
And slowly.
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Dubya's problem is he's speaking plain English. |
Stupid cowboy. . . /sarcasm off
Kerry will do what he did in Viet Nam.
Run Kerry run and will not confront terror.
He was chiken then, he is chicken now!
Flip-Flop-Flip-Flop
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