DES MOINES, Iowa, Sept 9 (AFP) - Democrat John Kerry on Thursday vowed to wage a "smarter" war on terror than President George W. Bush, two days before the United States marks the third anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
"If you believe we can restore America's respect in the world and do a better job of leading and fighting a more effective, smarter war on terror, then I ask you to join (vice presidential running mate) John Edwards and John Kerry to lead this country in a new direction," White House hopeful Kerry said.
The Massachusetts senator said North Korea is "more dangerous than it was before," Iran is being "ignored," and the war in Iraq has "diverted" the United States from "the real war on terror in Afghanistan and getting Osama bin Laden," whose Al-Qaeda network is responsible for September 11.
Kerry again assailed Bush's handling of the war in Iraq.
"They told you that our troops will be received as liberators," he said.
"They told you Saddam Hussein reconstituted his nuclear weapons program. ... They told all kinds of things that did not turn out not te be true," he added.
"And now we are spending 200 billion dollars a year that will not" be spent on health care in Iowa, he said as he campaigned in this midwestern agricultural state.
On Wednesday in Rochester, Minnesota, Kerry said: "We deserve the kind of leadership that understands what to do (in Iraq)."