by Marc Carnegie
NEW YORK, Sept 2 (AFP) - US Vice President Dick Cheney led a blazing Republican attack on John Kerry on Wednesday, belittling the Democrat as weak, confused and unfit to replace George W. Bush in the White House.
In a sweeping speech playing on American fears of terrorism, Cheney said the United States was caught up in a worldwide war that it had to win, and one that Kerry did not have the mettle to fight.
He lambasted the Massachusetts senator for criticising Bush`s decision to go to war in Iraq without broad international support, and hammered away at Kerry as too fickle to stand up to critics at home and enemies abroad.
"His back-and-forth reflects a habit of indecision and sends a message of confusion," said the vice president, who was interrupted by frequent applause on the third night of the Republican national convention.
"Senator Kerry denounces American action when other countries dont approve, as if the whole object of our foreign policy were to please a few persistent critics," he said.
With the November 2 vote less than nine weeks away and polls showing the two rivals neck-and-neck, Cheney said the September 11, 2001 attacks had pushed the nation toward a "defining moment" that Kerry did not quite understand.
"Moments come along in history when leaders must make fundamental decisions about how to confront a long-term challenge abroad and how best to keep the American people secure," he said.
"He talks about leading a more sensitive war on terror, as though al-Qaeda will be impressed with our softer side," said Cheney -- one of the chief architects of Bush`s strike-first policy that underpinned the Iraq war.
The tough talk signalled the gloves were off for the final phase of the campaign, with Bush showing new gains in the polls despite a struggling economy at home and ongoing violence in Iraq.
The Republicans have relied heavily on September 11 in making their case for Bush`s re-election, after opting to hold the convention in New York, just a few miles from where that day`s attacks demolished the World Trade Center towers.
Bush arrived in New York late Wednesday to put the finishing touches on his own speech Thursday night, after which he will get back on the campaign trail.
"I`m going to lay out a vision tomorrow night for a safer world and a more hopeful America," he said earlier at a rally in Columbus, Ohio, one of several crucial battleground state on which the election could hinge.
On the domestic front, the White House promised weeks ago Bush would lay out details of his agenda for a second term, but that pledge has gone unfulfilled as he and the party have instead focussed on discrediting Kerry.
Convention speakers have repeatedly ridiculed Kerry, rated by a Washington magazine as the most liberal US senator, and on Wednesday the party pulled out an unusual weapon -- one of Kerry`s Democratic colleagues.
Zell Miller of Georgia, a classic Southern conservative, delivered a fiery speech that mocked Kerry`s "bowl of mush" positions on defence that he said confused American allies and encouraged its enemies.
"For more than 20 years, on every one of the great issues of freedom and security, John Kerry has been more wrong, more weak and more wobbly than any other national figure," Miller said to thunderous cheers.
He also took aim at the Democratic party, blasting them for a "manic obsession" with trying to oust Bush rather than coming to his side as commander-in-chief at a time of war.
The Democrats immediately moved to counter Miller`s appearance by releasing remarks attributed to him in an address where he had fulsome praise for Kerry, a decorated Vietnam war veteran.
Police arrested more than 900 people as protests against Bush erupted all over the city on Tuesday but the demonstrations Wednesday were smaller and more peaceful.
Secret service agents pulled a handful activists out of the Madison Square Garden convention arena after they interrupted a speech by Bush`s chief of staff, Andrew Card.
Other protests unfolded outside in New York, including a line of some 5,000 protesters from Wall Street to the convention site, waving mock "pink slips" given to US workers when they lose their jobs.