Kerry's Iraq policy du jour:
RIVALS AT WAR OVER JOHN'S IRAQ 'FLIP-FLOP'
By DEBORAH ORIN
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September 7, 2004 -- WASHINGTON — John Kerry yesterday said the Iraq war was "the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time" — and President Bush instantly accused him of doing a new flip-flop because he's got new campaign advisers.
The back-and-forth came on the traditional Labor Day campaign kickoff as Kerry struggled for a comeback amid polls that show Bush has a solid lead.
"I would not have done just one thing differently than the president on Iraq — I would have done everything differently," Kerry said as he hopscotched on the campaign trail from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin to Ohio.
Just a few weeks ago, Kerry said he'd have voted for the war in Iraq even if he knew then what he knows now — that Saddam Hussein apparently didn't have weapons of mass destruction.
Bush shot back, "After voting for the war but against funding it, after saying he would have voted for the war even knowing everything we know today, my opponent woke up this morning with new campaign advisers and yet another position — suddenly, he's against it again."
Kerry also contended that America is carrying almost all the load in Iraq and Bush's talk of a coalition featuring allies such as Britain, Italy, Australia, Poland and more than 20 other countries is "the phoniest thing I ever heard."
That drew a retort from Vice President Dick Cheney in Iowa: "Demeaning our allies is an interesting approach for someone seeking the office of the presidency. When it comes to diplomacy, it looks like John Kerry should stick to windsurfing."
Bush's Labor Day stop was Poplar Bluff, Mo., population 16,651. He decided to go there after local businessmen collected more than 10,500 signatures on a petition asking him to come.
nypost.com
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