President George W. Bush told CNN host Larry King in an August 2004 interview that he was prepared to accept the political consequences if American voters chose John Kerry in November. He maintained the decision to invade Iraq had been correct and said he expected to win the election.
Bush pushed back against Kerry's pledge to substantially reduce US forces in Iraq within six months of taking office. Such a commitment, he argued, would signal to opponents that they needed only to wait out the clock and would suggest to Iraqis that Washington was not serious about the mission.
He rejected characterizations of US isolation, pointing to a coalition of roughly 30 nations with troops in Iraq, including Britain, and saying criticism of the effort unfairly dismissed those contributions.
On Kerry's Vietnam service, Bush said the senator had every reason to take pride in his record. He declined to condemn a veterans' group advertisement disputing that record, saying he had not seen it, but called for restricting unregulated campaign spending by wealthy donors, noting such advertising had hit both candidates.
The Kerry campaign accused Bush of ignoring calls from Senator John McCain to publicly denounce the veterans' group's attack on Kerry's war history.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in August 2004, in its own words.