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01 October 2004

Bush, Kerry Face Off In First Debate

War on terror key focus

By Alexandra Abboud
Washington File Staff Writer

President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry, the Democratic nominee for president, faced off on September 30 in the first of three presidential debates. In a highly organized 90-minute debate at the University of Miami in Coral Cables, Florida, moderator Jim Lehrer questioned the candidates on a wide range of foreign affairs issues. The war on terror, especially the war in Iraq, was the clear focus of the debate, with almost 70 minutes devoted to the topic.

President Bush and Senator Kerry laid out different plans on how to address the ongoing war, with Kerry stressing the need for international alliances. "I believe America is safest and strongest when we are leading the world and we are leading strong alliances," Kerry said.

"In Iraq, we saw a threat, and we realized that after September the 11th, we must take threats seriously, before they fully materialize," Bush responded. "We're pursuing a strategy of freedom around the world, because I understand free nations will reject terror."

Despite clearly drawn distinctions on several topics, the candidates agreed that nuclear proliferation is the top national security threat facing the United States. Bush said that nuclear non-proliferation is a centerpiece of his strategy to protect the United States from further terrorist attacks and outlined the administration's "Proliferation Security Initiative," a program in which over 60 nations work to stop the shipment across borders of information and materials used to construct weapons of mass destruction. "I agree with my opponent that the biggest threat facing this country is weapons of mass destruction in the hands of a terrorist network," Bush said. "And we've been effective."

Kerry argued that the president has not done enough to secure nuclear materials and presented a timetable for preventing nuclear proliferation in countries such as Russia. "We're going to get the job of containing all of that nuclear material in Russia done in four years," Kerry said. "And we're going to build the strongest international network to prevent nuclear proliferation."

At the end of the debate, each candidate presented a two-minute closing statement with Senator Kerry outlining the differences between the two candidates' views on the many issues discussed in the debate. "Both President Bush and I love this country very much, " Kerry said. "But we have a different set of convictions about how we make our country stronger here at home and respected again in the world."

President Bush used the time to reiterate his record on the war on terror. "If America shows uncertainty or weakness in this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy," he said. "By being steadfast and resolute and strong, by keeping our word, by supporting our troops, we can achieve the peace we all want."

A complete transcript of the debate can be found at:

http://www.debates.org/pages/debtrans.html

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)