http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/politics/campaign/15CND-KERRY.html?hpSenator John F. Kerry attacked President Bush on national security issues today, asserting that Mr. Bush has played politics with the battle against terrorism and that the bombings in Spain show how ineffective his policies have been.
"When it comes to protecting America from terrorism, this administration is big on bluster and they're short on action," Mr. Kerry, the Massachusetts senator and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said. "But as we saw again last week in Spain, real action is what we need. The Bush administration is tinkering while the clock on homeland security is ticking. And we really don't have a moment of time to waste."
Mr. Kerry's remarks, delivered to a conference of the International Association of Fire Fighters here, showed that Mr. Kerry is acutely aware that President Bush plans to make the war on terrorism a central theme of his own re-election campaign and to portray the Democrat as soft on national defense.
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Mr. Kerry asserted that President Bush and his aides had even demanded that the Department of Homeland Security regularly set up "photo opportunities" to show Mr. Bush in flattering settings.
"Ladies and gentlemen, America doesn't need leaders who play politics with 9/11 or see the war on terror as just another campaign issue," Mr. Kerry said a moment later. "Our nation's safety is too important. And if I am president, we will work toward victory in the war on terror, knowing that those on the front lines of this battle are heroes, not political props."
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