July 17 2003 - Kerry Says Bush Lacks Viable Security Plan
Thursday July 17, 2003

By Alan Feuer - New York Times

Flanked by firefighters and police officers in the Bronx, Senator John Kerry yesterday delivered a scathing assessment of President Bush's national security efforts, saying the White House had no plan for protecting the nation against another terrorist attack at home.

"Let me state it plainly," said Mr. Kerry, a Democratic presidential contender. "Just as we did not have a viable plan for Iraq after the capture of Baghdad, today we still do not have a real plan and enough resources for preparedness against a terrorist attack."

It was among the sterner rebukes of Mr. Bush so far by a Democratic candidate on the topic of national security, and it came in a week in which nearly all the Democratic prospects have been attacking the president on the issue. Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut called today for the resignation of George J. Tenet, the director of central intelligence, following in the footsteps of Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, who made a similar demand on Sunday.

Mr. Kerry leveled fresh accusations that the administration had not been forthcoming in its policies about Iraq, particularly in its efforts to promote the war. "It is clear that a dangerous gap in credibility has developed between President Bush's tough rhetoric and timid policies which don't do nearly enough to protect Americans from danger," he said.

Mr. Kerry said the president had purposefully stalled the investigation into the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and suggested, ungently, that he "get out of the way."

"It's time we were told the truth about America's safety," he said. "It's time we had a president who will truly make this nation more secure."

Mr. Kerry was speaking in the Veterans Memorial Hall of the Bronx County office building, and his decision to assail Mr. Bush in New York City on matters of national security was a clear attempt to invoke the city's experience with terrorism.

At the same time, it was somewhat unclear why he had chosen the Bronx to deliver his remarks. His only answer was to note that the county office overlooked Yankee Stadium, which Mr. Kerry, from Massachusetts, referred to as a "monument to Red Sox hopes."

Mr. Kerry began his 30-minute address by remembering the firefighters and police officers who died in the attacks and quickly moved on to criticize what he said was Mr. Bush's undeserved good reputation on national security.

He cited a report made public by a bipartisan panel led by former Senator Warren B. Rudman, a Republican from New Hampshire, which concluded that the country needed to close what Mr. Kerry called the "preparedness gap." The report, Mr. Kerry said, indicated that the federal government needed to spend more money on frontline responders like the police and, especially, firefighters, whom he said lacked adequate radios and emergency equipment.





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