PRESIDENT George W. Bush has declared the US s could not win the war on terrorism as Republicans gathered in New York to tout his response to September 11, 2001, attacks as the key reason to re-elect him on November 2.
"I don't think you can win it. But I think you can create conditions so that those who use terror as a tool are less acceptable in parts of the world," Mr Bush said in a TV interview.
The frank admission was jumped on by Democrat vice-presidential candidate John Edwards.
"After months of listening to the Republicans base their campaign on their singular ability to win the war on terror, the President now says we can't win the war on terrorism," Senator Edwards said. "This is no time to declare defeat."
Any doubt the Republican Convention, never held in New York or so late in the year, was timed to coincide with the looming anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks vanished yesterday. Two widows and a sister of three September 11 victims – a heroic passenger on Flight 93, a New York fireman and the pilot of Flight 77 – appeared on stage during prime time.
Every Convention speaker recounted that black day and praised and defended Mr Bush's aggressive responses to it with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Rudy Giuliani, mayor of New York at the time of the attacks, retold his memories of the day and likened Mr Bush's pre-emptive pursuit of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to Winston Churchill's well-founded mistrust of Adolf Hitler.
He ridiculed Democrat presidential candidate Senator John Kerry as someone who could not stick to one position on foreign or domestic policy and had "no clear, precise or consistent vision" on terrorism. In contrast Mr Bush remained "rock solid", even as public opinion shifted, in responding to "the worst crisis in our history".
Senator Kerry would pander to the views of other countries when fighting terror but, under Mr Bush, "America will lead rather than follow", he said.
Mr Guiliani said removing Saddam Hussein was critical to eradicating global terrorism because he was a "pillar of support for the global terrorist movement".
The other keynote speaker, Senator John McCain, put aside his troubled relationship with Mr Bush to defend the invasion of Iraq as "necessary, achievable and noble".
"The awful events of September 11, 2001, declared a war we were vaguely aware of but hadn't really comprehended how near the threat was, and how terrible were the plans of our enemies," he said. Senator McCain avoided criticising good friend Senator Kerry, and was even conciliatory, saying the Democrats were just as serious about fighting terrorists.
The Courier-Mail
