Kerry pledges to build bridges, battle terrorism

By David Postman
Times chief political reporter

AP Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry speaks at a rally yesterday in Ashwaubenon, Wis.

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But the presumed Democratic presidential nominee also had a message for terrorists the government says may attack to try to influence this fall's presidential election.

"We may have an election here in America. But let there be no doubt: This country is united in its determination to defeat terrorism," 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."

The challenge for Kerry as he begins an 11-day focus on national security: to critique what he sees as Bush's itchy-trigger-finger foreign policy while trying to show he has as much resolve and toughness as the president.

Kerry's speech at McCaw Hall capped two days of campaigning in Seattle. Now, over Memorial Day weekend and through the next week, Kerry will discuss the importance of international alliances, modernizing the military, full engagement of diplomacy, improved intelligence-gathering and making the United States less dependent on foreign oil.

What he won't do is give many details about what he'd do differently than Bush in Iraq today, and aides said the speeches won't diverge from Kerry's current position on Iraq.

"He has laid down the predicate of his strategy in Iraq already," said Richard Holbrooke, a Kerry adviser and former ambassador to the United Nations.

What Kerry said in Seattle On terrorists: "We will use every available resource to destroy you." On Bush's approach to Iraq: "They looked to force before exhausting diplomacy. They bullied when they should have persuaded." If U.S. is hit by unconventional weapons: "As commander in chief, I will respond with overwhelming and devastating force." On Saudi Arabia's support for terrorism: The kingdom must "take concrete steps to stop their clerics from fueling the fires of Islamic extremism."

Former national-security adviser Sandy Berger, another Kerry backer, said this is the first wartime presidential election since 1972, and the candidate has to be mindful of his Iraq statements with the war still unsettled.

"His responsibility is to keep faith with our troops, while making it clear to the American people the strategic direction he thinks we should take," said Berger, who worked in the Clinton White House.

Congressman Jim McDermott, D-Seattle, a strong opponent of the war and latecomer to the Kerry campaign, said that, for now, Kerry doesn't need to offer a detailed alternative to Bush's Iraq strategy.

"I think that John can let him (Bush) have the stage, and if he can't begin to get us out of it, then I think John Kerry will step forward," McDermott said.

	Sandy Berger

But McDermott said pressure will build on Kerry to be more specific if U.S. troops remain bogged down after the scheduled transfer of power next month.

Former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart, who introduced Kerry at the speech yesterday, said in an interview that the only limit on how much Kerry should talk about Iraq is "a limit only of boredom. If you get into much detail, people will nod off."

"There are people who say he is avoiding being specific," Hart acknowledged. But he said yesterday's speech laid the framework for more details to come about how the military should be reorganized and modernized.

The Bush campaign, continuing to accuse Kerry of waffling, yesterday unveiled on its Web site an interactive timeline of "Kerry on Iraq."

"John Kerry has played politics with Iraq throughout this campaign, and we saw it again today," Bush campaign manager Ken Mehlman said in a conference call with reporters.

"John Kerry voted to authorize force in Iraq, then called himself an anti-war candidate. Kerry said it would be irresponsible not to provide our troops the supplies they needed, and then voted against $87 billion in funding for essential equipment like body armor.

"Kerry's speech today projected his own problems onto the president."

Sen. George Allen, R-Va., said Kerry's speech offered nothing new. "These petty, hate-filled political attacks don't make America safer or stronger or better," he said. "John Kerry and his surrogates' blame-America-first and hate-Bush rhetoric is not offering solutions or helping America win the war on terror."

In his speech, Kerry also had hard words for Saudi Arabia and the Bush administration's treatment of the oil-producing nation. He said if the United States wants energy independence, it must get "serious about confronting the role of Saudi Arabia in financing and providing ideological support" for terrorists. The Saudi government must "take concrete steps to stop their clerics from fueling the fires of Islamic extremism."

Kerry said the Bush administration has repeatedly ignored Theodore Roosevelt's advice to "walk softly and carry a big stick."

"They looked to force before exhausting diplomacy," he said. "They bullied when they should have persuaded. They have gone it alone when they should have assembled a whole team. They have hoped for the best when they should have prepared for the worst."

Kerry said the gravest threat to the United States today is "lawless states and terrorists" with weapons of mass destruction.

"Any potential adversary should know that we will defend ourselves against the possibility of attack by unconventional arms. If such a strike does occur, as commander in chief, I will respond with overwhelming and devastating force," he said.

David Postman: 360-943-9882 or dpostman@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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