NEW YORK (AFP) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry delivered his sharpest attack yet on the Iraq war, accusing President George W. Bush of "colossal failures of judgment" that created a "crisis of historic proportions."
But while calling for "a great national debate on Iraq" and the war on terror, Kerry broke new no ground on how he would handle the conflict. He repeated his hope to replace US troops with other international soldiers and Iraqi security forces.
Kerry made his scathing assessment in a speech prepared for delivery at New York University, pressing his latest tactic of focusing on Iraq and hammering Bush for misleading the US public about the deepening turmoil.
"The president claims it is the centerpiece of his war on terror," the Massachusetts senator said. "In fact, Iraq was a profound diversion from that war and the battle against our greatest enemy, Osama bin Laden and the terrorists."
"Invading Iraq has created a crisis of historic proportions and, if we do not change course, there is the prospect of a war with no end in sight," said Kerry, battling to unseat Bush in the November 2 election.
Kerry scored Bush over the president`s acknowledgement that the administration had miscalculated the difficulties in restoring stability to Iraq after ousting Saddam Hussein in April 2003.
"That is one of the greatest understatements in recent American history," Kerry said. "His were not the equivalent of accounting errors. They were colossal failures of judgment and judgment is what we look for in a president."
Bush leads in polls on his ability to resolve the Iraq crisis and prosecute the war on terror and has scored points by accusing his rival of waffling, first voting to authorize the use of force and then opposing the war.
But Kerry said the Republican`s biggest mistake was his failure to level with the American people about the reasons for invading Iraq and the burden US soldiers and taxpayers would bear.
"By one count, the president offered 23 different rationales for this war," the Democrat said. "If his purpose was to confuse and mislead the American people, he succeeded."
Bush justified the March 2003 invasion by citing Saddam`s suspected weapons of mass destruction that have never been found and Baghdad`s alleged ties to Al-Qaeda terrorists that have been widely disputed.
"Just last week, Secretary of State Powell acknowledged the facts," Kerry said. "Only Vice President Cheney still insists that the earth is flat."
Kerry said Bush ignored advice about planning for the reconstruction of Iraq that was available before the war from bi-partisan Congressional hearings, outside studies and even within the administration itself.
"This president was in denial. He hitched his wagon to the ideologues who surround him, filtering out those who disagreed, including leaders of his own party and the uniformed military.
"The result is a long litany of misjudgments with terrible consequences," Kerry said.
"Over and over, when this administration has been presented with a reasonable alternative, they have rejected it and gone their own way. This is stubborn incompetence."
Affirming that Washington "must act with urgency" on Iraq, Kerry said it "has to get the promised international support so our men and women in uniform don`t have to go it alone. Second, the president must get serious about training Iraqi security forces."
He said the White House had to carry out a reconstruction plan "that finally brings tangible benefits to the Iraqi people" and take "immediate, urgent, essential steps" to make sure promised election are held on scheduled next year.