Democrats Say Bush Is Weak on Terrorism

Democratic presidential candidates challenged President Bush today on his handling of the war on terrorism, questioning the administration’s failure to find Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein and asserting that Mr. Bush had failed to protect the nation adequately against further terrorist attacks. The candidates, appearing at a labor forum here this morning, repeatedly castigated Mr. Bush, their presumptive opponent in November 2004, for what the White House has portrayed as one of Mr. Bush’s chief strengths: his record in battling terrorism abroad and protecting Americans at home. The criticisms came in a week when terrorists killed dozens of people in bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco, attacks that officials have said bear the trademark of Al Qaeda. The bombings have stirred concerns about the terrorist group’s persistence, even after many of its leaders have been detained or killed. They have also reignited questions about whether the war on Iraq might have inflamed suicidal terrorists. Senator Bob Graham of Florida, a former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee who has been among the most persistently critical members of Congress of Mr. Bush’s antiterror policies before and after the attacks of Sept. 11, said that the White House had neglected the threat of Al Qaeda and instead focused on Baghdad. Full Story