Bush derides Kerry stance on defense

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President Bush yesterday labeled his Democratic opponent's call to seek permission from foreign governments before protecting America the "Kerry Doctrine," juxtaposing the maxim with his own "Bush Doctrine," which calls for unilateral pre-emption when the United States is threatened.

Pounding Sen. John Kerry's assertion in their first debate that the president first must pass a "global test" before striking an enemy, Mr. Bush said he will never cede control of America's security to foreign nations.

"When he laid out the Kerry Doctrine, he said that America has to pass a 'global test' before we can use American troops to defend ourselves. Think about this: Senator Kerry's approach to foreign policy would give foreign governments veto power over our national security decisions," Mr. Bush said in a speech in Columbus, Ohio, that came with one month left in the presidential campaign.

"I have a different view. When our country is in danger, the president's job is not to take an international poll. The president's job is to defend America. I'll continue to work every daywith our friends and allies for the sake of freedom and peace. But our national security decisions will be made in the Oval Office, not in foreign capitals," he said, later repeating the line in Mansfield and the Akron suburb of Cuyahoga Falls during a bus tour of Ohio.

The Kerry camp fired back almost immediately, calling a new Bush-Cheney ad focusing on the Kerry Doctrine "completely false."

"President Bush knows good and well that John Kerry said when it comes to America's national security, he'll never give a veto to any other country," said Kerry spokesman Chad Clanton. "John Kerry will take any action necessary to protect the United States from immediate danger."

During Thursday's debate in Miami, Mr. Kerry actually took both stances.

"No president, through all of American history, has ever ceded, and nor would I, the right to pre-empt in any way necessary to protect the United States of America. But if and when you do it ... you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people, understand fully why you're doing what you're doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons," the Massachusetts Democrat said.

He cited as an example President John F. Kennedy's decision to consult with French President Charles de Gaulle over the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, and compared Mr. de Gaulle's favorable response with the skepticism Mr. Bush faces abroad over the Iraq war.

The Bush campaign seized on the statement, which they say plainly illustrates their opponent's proclivity to straddle tough issues.