For Bush and Kerry, Different Lessons From 9/11 Report

NY TIMES
July 23, 2004
For Bush and Kerry, Different Lessons From 9/11 Report
By MICHAEL JANOFSKY and DAVID M. HALBFINGER

LENVIEW, Ill., July 22 - President Bush staunchly defended his administration's antiterrorism policies on Thursday, the day that a bipartisan panel called for the nation's intelligence apparatus to be restructured, while his Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry, called such changes "long overdue'' and criticized Mr. Bush for failing to carry out such an overhaul.

"This report carries a very simple message for all of America about the security of all Americans: We can do better," Mr. Kerry said in Detroit after speaking at the National Urban League convention. "We must do better, and there's an urgency to our doing better. We have to act now."

He added, "If I am elected president and there still has not been sufficient progress rapidly in these next months on these issues, then I will lead."

While generally embracing the recommendations of the panel, Mr. Bush used his appearance here at a training facility north of Chicago to underscore one of his major campaign themes, that the nation was better protected as a result of his administration's policies.

One example, he said, was the medical and emergency workers called first responders; he praised several hundred attending his speech at the Northeastern Illinois Public Safety Training Academy.

Mr. Bush congratulated them and strongly defended his actions since the Sept. 11 attacks, saying "Because of these achievements, America and the world are safer."

"If an attack should come," he said, "American will be prepared."

Mr. Bush referred several times to the commission report, characterizing it as an important tool in mapping future strategies to combat terrorist activities. He called it "a serious and comprehensive report with thoughtful recommendations," and said, "We will carefully study all their proposals, of course."

Mr. Bush, who was introduced by Tom Ridge, the secretary of homeland security, also said that the report affirmed many steps his administration had already taken. He used much of his speech to review those steps, recalling military efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq, disruptions of financial networks used by terrorists and changes that eased the sharing of information by law enforcement agencies.

"I agree with their conclusion that the terrorists were able to exploit deep institutional failings in our nation's defenses that developed over more than a decade," he said. "The commission's recommendations are consistent with the strategy my administration is following to address these failings and to win the war on terror."

"But the job is not done," Mr. Bush said. "This report will help our country identify even more steps we can take to better defend America."

Mr. Kerry used the report to challenge Mr. Bush's leadership and priorities, blaming him for the conflicts among agencies that have been cited as impediments to more efficient intelligence gathering and response.

"Unfortunately, this administration has had an ongoing war between the State Department, the Defense Department, the White House," Mr. Kerry said. "People have been at odds, everybody knows it, they'll deny it, but everybody does know. And the fact is that it has created a struggle that has delayed our ability to move forward."

Mr. Kerry aimed only veiled criticism of former President Bill Clinton, saying some changes in the nation's intelligence-gathering efforts should have been made before Mr. Bush took office. And he said he agreed with the commission's finding that Congress had given terrorism too little attention and had responded slowly and inadequately in the years before the attacks.

But he focused much more of his criticism on Mr. Bush.

"Sure, Congress shares some responsibility," Mr. Kerry said, "But as you know, the watchdog role is a role of proposal, a role of scrutiny."

He added: "The bottom line is, the executive is the implementer. The executive department proposes the budget, the executive department has the ability to lead."

Mr. Kerry's running mate, Senator John Edwards, was more circumspect in his response to the report, interrupting a fund-raising trip to Hartford to speak to reporters after telephone conversations with the commission's leaders, Thomas H. Kean, the former Republican governor of New Jersey, and Lee H. Hamilton, the former Democratic representative from Indiana.

Mr. Edwards praised the "bipartisan nature" of the commission's work, then called on Mr. Bush to act immediately on those recommendations that could be accomplished by executive order, and for Congress to work on the rest.

"We had thousands of Americans who lost their lives on Sept. 11,'' Mr. Edwards said, "and it is very important for us, those of us in positions of responsibility, to pay the greatest tribute we can pay to them, which is to take action and reform our intelligence operations."

Mr. Kerry's remarks about the Sept. 11 report came after he addressed the National Urban League, vowing to expand loans, contracting and other business opportunities for minorities and to crack down on gang violence, not just by prosecuting it but by offering alternatives like job training and drug treatment.

President Bush is to address the group on Friday, an appearance the White House scheduled after it rejected an invitation from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to speak at its convention last week. A Bush campaign official said Thursday that Mr. Bush would "speak directly to the African-American community" about how his agenda was helping cities. The official said Mr. Bush would also highlight the increases in minority home ownership and drops in drug use and crime under his administration.

Mr. Kerry, who did address the N.A.A.C.P., alluded to the tiff after he was introduced by Vernon Jordan, a former Urban League president who heads his debate negotiation team.

"As president of the United States, I will show up - not just at national meetings during election season," Mr. Kerry said. "I want you at the table with me, in a full partnership to build a stronger America at home and an America more respected in the world again."