by Peter Mackler
BOSTON, Massachusetts, July 29 (AFP) - Senator John Kerry, gearing to slug it out with George W. Bush for the White House, pledged Thursday to beef up US forces and take military action alone if necessary to protect the country.
In a prepared speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination at the party's national convention here, Kerry, 60, sought to counter Republican charges he was weak or irresolute on defense issues.
The Massachusetts senator said he would repair alliances overseas left in tatters by the US invasion of Iraq, but added he was ready to strike back unilaterally if the United States was attacked.
"Let there be no mistake: I will never hesitate to use force when it is required," Kerry, a decorated Vietnam war hero, said in excerpts of the address released in advance of his appearance.
"Any attack will be met with a swift and certain response. I will never give any nation or international institution a veto over our national security. And I will build a stronger American military."
Security after the September 11, 2001 attacks has become a major issue in the November 2 election, with polls showing Kerry trailing Bush in voter appreication of their capacities as a strong leader.
Drawing an implicit contrast between his wartime record and Bush's lack of combat experience,. Kerry said, "I defended this country as a young man and I will defend it as president."
"We need a strong military and we need to lead strong alliances. And then, with confidence and determination, we will be able to tell the terrorists: You will lose and we will win. The future doesn't belong to fear; it belongs to freedom."
Kerry also chided Bush on homeland security, saying he would not "evade or equivocate" on the issue and immediately implement the recommendations of a national panel that probed the September 11 disaster.
"We shouldn't be letting ninety-five percent of container ships come into our ports without ever being physically inspected," he said.
"We shouldnt be leaving our nuclear and chemical plants without enough protection. And we shouldn't be opening firehouses in Baghdad and closing them down in the United States of America."
Making a frontal assault on Bush's contention he was running as a "war president" in the struggle against terrorism. Kerry said, "In these dangerous days there is a right way and a wrong way to be strong."
"Strength is more than tough words. After decades of experience in national security, I know the reach of our power and I know the power of our ideals."
Kerry was to take the podium at the end of the four-day convention here after a non-stop series of attacks on Bush that left the Democratic candidate him with the job of explaining to voters why he could do better.
The most crucial address of Kerry's political life set the stage for a bruising three-month election showdown with Bush which shows every sign of being as close as the cliffhanger in 2000.
For the first time since the Cold War, opinion surveys show foreign policy is a vital issue for nearly half of US voters, and Democrats have used the spotlight this week to paint Bush as a misguided, dangerous world leader.
Kerry's vice presidential running-mate, John Edwards, on Wednesday denounced Bush's "hateful, negative politics" and promised a different United States that would repair US relations abroad, damaged by the unpopular Iraq war.
But while the lines of attack have been drawn, Kerry is still be under pressure to begin defining his own national political stance as something more than just anti-Bush.
Despite two decades in the US Senate and his distinguished service in the Vietnam war, Kerry has struggled to carve his identity in the minds of voters, with polls showing many still unsure of what he stands for.
"The doubts about Mr. Kerry concern not his courage, but his judgment and conviction," The Wall Street Journal said Thursday, while the New York Times said the senator needed to clarify his "impossibly opaque" policy on Iraq.
Kerry was to speak after warm-up addresses by the likes of retired general and former NATO supreme commander Wesley Clark, and Jim Rassman, a Green Beret whose life Kerry saved in Vietnam.
A short documentary, which credits Steven Spielberg as an advisor, will offer a highlights review of his life and career, with stirring testimony from fellow veterans, family and friends.
Party conventions traditionally provide a ratings boost for their candidates, and Kerry will seek to keep the momentum rolling by launching a gruelling 21-state, cross-country tour the morning after his speech.
But Friday will also mark return in force of the Republican re-election machine after a week in which Bush retired to his Texas ranch to leave the national spotlight to the Democrats.
Bent on minimising any advantage reaped by Kerry from the Boston event, Bush plans a punishing 48-hour campaign swing through the key battleground states of Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.