Kerry claims Bush failed to level with U.N. about problems in Iraq
http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/09/21/build/nation/21-kerry.incJACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Tuesday that President Bush failed to present a true picture of Iraq to the United Nations and "does not have the credibility to lead the world."
"The president really has no credibility at this point," Kerry said in his first news conference since Aug. 9. "He has no credibility with foreign leaders who hear him come before them and talk as if everything is going well, and they see that we can't even protect the people on the ground for the election."
Roughly three hours after Bush defended his Iraq invasion decision to the world community, Kerry told reporters, "The president needs to live in the world of reality."
Bush had appealed to foreign leaders to join in supporting the new Iraqi interim government. Kerry said, as he did in a speech Monday in New York, that the United States needs to change its policies in Iraq to be successful, starting with bringing in more help from other nations.
"After lecturing them, instead of leading them to understand how we are all together with a stake in the outcome of Iraq, I believe the president missed an opportunity of enormous importance for our nation and for the world," Kerry said. "He does not have the credibility to lead the world. And he did not and will not offer the leadership in order to do what we need to do to protect our troops, to be successful, and win the war on terror in an effective way."