PRESIDENT BUSH:

“My opponent looked at the same intelligence I looked at and declared in 2002 that Saddam Hussein was a grave threat. He also said in December of 2003 that anyone who doubts that the world is safer without Saddam Hussein does not have the judgment to be president. I agree with him. The world is better off without Saddam Hussein.”



JOHN KERRY:

“This president has made, I regret to say, a colossal error of judgment. And judgment is what we look for in the president of the United States of America.”



BUSH:

“We’re making progress. But the front on this war is more than just one place. The Philippines – we’ve got help – we’re helping them there to bring – to bring al-Qaida affiliates to justice there. And, of course, Iraq is a central part in the war on terror. That’s why (Abu Musab al-) Zarqawi and his people are trying to fight us. Their hope is that we grow weary and we leave.

“The biggest disaster that could happen is that we not succeed in Iraq. We will succeed. We’ve got a plan to do so. And the main reason we’ll succeed is because the Iraqis want to be free.”

KERRY:

“The president just talked about Iraq as a center of the war on terror. Iraq was not even close to the center of the war on terror before the president invaded it. The president made the judgment to divert forces from under General Tommy Franks from Afghanistan before the Congress even approved it to begin to prepare to go to war in Iraq. And he rushed the war in Iraq without a plan to win the peace.

“Now, that is not the judgment that a president of the United States ought to make. You don’t take America to war unless have the plan to win the peace.”

BUSH:

“First of all, what my opponent wants you to forget is that he voted to authorize the use of force and now says it’s the wrong war at the wrong time at the wrong place. I don’t see how you can lead this country to succeed in Iraq if you say wrong war, wrong time, wrong place. What message does that send our troops? What message does that send to our allies? What message does that send the Iraqis?

“No, the way to win this is to be steadfast and resolved and to follow through on the plan that I’ve just outlined.”



KERRY:

“Yes, we have to be steadfast and resolved, and I am. And I will succeed for those troops, now that we’re there. We have to succeed. We can’t leave a failed Iraq. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a mistake of judgment to go there and take the focus off of Osama bin Laden. It was. Now, we can succeed. But I don’t believe this president can.

“I think we need a president who has the credibility to bring the allies back to the table and to do what’s necessary to make it so America isn’t doing this alone.”