Military

DATE=OCTOBER 8, 2004

TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT

TITLE=BUSH/ KERRY FOREIGN POLICY

NUMBER=5-55967

BYLINE=SCOTT STEARNS

DATELINE=WHITE HOUSE

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: Bush and Kerry Differ Over Foreign Policy

INTRO: This year's U.S. presidential campaign has revealed some sharp foreign policy differences between President Bush and Democratic challenger John Kerry. From the White House, correspondent Scott Stearns takes a look at where the men stand on the issues.

TEXT: Iraq is the biggest foreign policy issue in this election, and both men come at the war from distinctly different positions.

President Bush says Iraq is the central front in the fight against terrorism. Senator Kerry says it is a distraction.

/// KERRY ACT ///

"Iraq was not even close to the center of the war on terror before the President invaded it."

/// END ACT ///

Senator Kerry says the president rushed into the conflict, breaking a promise that war in Iraq would only be a last resort.

/// 2nd KERRY ACT ///

"Those words mean something to me as somebody who has been in combat. Last resort. You've got to be able to look in the eyes of families and say to those parents: I tried to do everything in my power to prevent the loss of your son and daughter. I don't believe the United States did that. And we pushed our allies aside."

/// END ACT ///

Senator Kerry says he would hold an international summit to broaden the alliance and more fairly share its costs. President Bush says there is already a strong coalition and Senator Kerry is wrong to discredit allies who are part of it.

/// BUSH ACT ///

"My opponent says we didn't have any allies in this war? What's he say to Tony Blair? What's he say to Alexander Kwasniewski, of Poland. You can't expect to build alliance when you denigrate the contributions of those who are serving side-by-side with American troops in Iraq."

/// END ACT ///

President Bush says Senator Kerry's internationalist approach would give countries like France a veto over U.S. policy.

/// 2ND BUSH ACT ///

"I just think trying to be popular kind of in the global sense, if it's not in our best interest makes no sense. I'm interested in working with other nations, and do a lot of it. But I'm not going to make decisions that I think are wrong for America."

/// END ACT ///

President Bush says invading Iraq was right for America because it has made the nation safer and furthers U.S. foreign policy.

/// 3RD BUSH ACT ///

"A free Iraq will set a powerful example in a part of the world that is desperate for freedom. A free Iraq will help secure Israel. A free Iraq will enforce the hopes and aspirations of the reformers in places like Iran."

/// END ACT ///

President Bush says he is working closely with European allies to convince Iran's leaders to give up their nuclear program. Senator Kerry says the president has done little to ensure that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.

Senator Kerry also says the president has been lax on North Korea's nuclear program, where the Democrat says his Republican opponent lost opportunities during the two years he refused to talk to Pyongyang.

/// 3rd KERRY ACT ///

"While they didn't talk at all, the fuel rods came out. The inspectors were kicked out. The television cameras were kicked out. And, today, there are four to seven nuclear weapons in the hands of North Korea. That happened on this President's watch."

/// END ACT ///

Senator Kerry says he would open bilateral talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. President Bush says that is just what Mr. Kim wants to dilute current six-party talks which include South Korea, China, Russia, and Japan.

/// 4TH BUSH ACT ///

"So now there are five voices speaking to Kim Jong-il, not just one. And so if Kim Jong-il decides again to not honor an agreement, he's not only doing injustice to America, he'd be doing injustice to China, as well. And I think this will work."

/// END ACT ///

In Africa, President Bush says the United States is contributing more than 200 million dollars to help people displaced by violence in southern Sudan. He sees no reason to send American troops to the troubled Darfur region but will continue supporting regional efforts to end what his administration says is genocide.

Senator Kerry agrees there is no current need to send U.S. troops, but he would not rule out the possibility in the future and said Washington must do more to help African soldiers keep the peace.

Both men agree that nuclear proliferation is the single most serious foreign policy threat. But again they approach the issue differently. President Bush sees it as part of the broader fight against terrorism. Senator Kerry says the United States must move faster to secure Russian nuclear material instead of developing new nuclear weapons of its own.

/// 4th KERRY ACT ///

"We're telling other people, you can't have nuclear weapons, but we're pursuing a new nuclear weapon that we might even contemplate using. Not this President. I'm going to shut that program down and we're going to make it clear to the world we're serious about containing nuclear proliferation."

/// END ACT ///

President Bush says he is working on the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he says he has also raised concerns about the Russian leader consolidating political power.

/// 5TH BUSH ACT ///

"I think that there needs to be checks and balances in a democracy, and made that very clear, that by consolidating power in a central government, he's sending a signal to the Western world and the United States that, that perhaps he doesn't believe in checks and balances. And I've told him that."

/// END ACT ///

President Bush says he understands that not everybody agrees with his foreign policy decisions, but people know where he stands and what he believes, and that, he says is the best way to keep the peace.

Senator Kerry says it is one thing to be certain, but, you can be certain and be wrong. As president, the Democrat says he would work to earn back some of the international respect he says the country has lost under President Bush.

(SIGNED)

NEB/SS/RH/PT