KUTZTOWN, Pa. — President Bush yesterday called the war on terror “a mighty ideological struggle” between an American society of religious tolerance and Islamist militants who kill those with different beliefs.
“The better way to describe what’s happening is, this is a war against an ideology which stands exactly opposite of what we believe,” said Mr. Bush, using more direct and religious language to describe the war than ever before.
At an appearance later in the day in Lancaster, Pa., Mr. Bush said terrorists’ “hearts are filled with evil,” he said. “There is no peace treaty you can sign with these people.”
Shortly after the September 11 attacks, Mr. Bush characterized the war on terror as a “crusade,” an off-hand comment that was widely criticized as being insensitive to Islamic culture. He has avoided couching the war in religious terms since.
But campaigning for re-election as a war president at a time when support for his performance as commander-in-chief is waning, Mr. Bush has sharpened his rhetoric.
Admitting that his “greatest fear is we’re going to get attacked again,” Mr. Bush told 2,500 supporters at a basketball gym at Kutztown University that he is “working hard to stop it from happening” by showing strength to the terrorists.
“Listen, we want to whip them in Iraq before we have to face them here at home,” Mr. Bush said.
One of the most important values of the United States, the president said, is the nation’s tradition of religious tolerance — a value not shared by the enemy.
“You see, we believe that you’re as big a patriot if you worship the Almighty as if you don’t. And if you choose to worship, whether it be as a Christian, Jew or Muslim, you’re equally as patriotic as your neighbor,” Mr. Bush said. “That’s what we believe. You have the freedom to worship as you see fit in America.
“That’s the exact opposite of the dim view of the people who are trying to cause us harm. So this is really a ideological struggle where the enemy is willing to use terror as a tool.
Mr. Bush made the comments while taking random questions from the audience at his first stop in a three-town bus tour in Pennsylvania, a key state in November’s election with its 21 electoral votes.
Former Vice President Al Gore captured the Democrat-heavy state by 5 percentage points in 2000, but recent polls show Mr. Bush tied in Pennsylvania with Democratic candidate Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts.
A nationwide Associated Press-Ipsos poll released yesterday said Mr. Bush leads Mr. Kerry 49 percent to 45 percent, suggesting the Democratic ticket didn’t get much of a bounce since it added North Carolina Sen. John Edwards on Tuesday.
Mr. Kerry and Mr. Bush were tied in a head-to-head matchup in the poll one month ago.
The survey also found that registered voters were feeling better about the economy and no worse about Iraq, a sign that Mr. Bush may be regaining his political footing as the Democrats gear up for their convention in Boston later this month.
Mr. Bush told his audience yesterday that he wished he didn’t have to campaign on his war record.
“I never thought I’d be a war president. As a matter of fact, you know, I was hoping I wouldn’t be a war president,” Mr. Bush said. “But the enemy attacked us on September the 11th.”
The Kerry campaign, which stopped in West Virginia yesterday, accused Mr. Bush of stretching the military too thin with simultaneous commitments in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“When you add it up, we are in danger of creating another hollow Army,” Mr. Kerry said. “I will modernize our military to match its new missions and fight for a constant standard of decency and respect for those who serve their country in our armed forces.”
The Bush-Cheney ’04 caravan drove through the back roads of rural Pennsylvania yesterday, from Kutztown to Lancaster, then on to York.
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