Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry has opposed some of the most effective -- and publicly popular -- military weapons in the U.S. arsenal during the past 15 years.
The Massachusetts senator voted against defense appropriations bills that included money for weapons such as the Patriot missile, the Tomahawk cruise missile and the B-2 stealth bomber -- all of which military leaders say have become integral to the U.S. force and were crucial to winning the 1991 Gulf war and last year's war in Iraq.
According to voting records, Mr. Kerry also favored cutting or canceling spending on the Apache helicopter, the M-1 Abrams tank and a wide range of fighter jets.
A skirmish over the issue broke out this weekend between Mr. Kerry and President Bush, with supporters of Mr. Bush accusing Mr. Kerry of being "weak on defense." In a letter to Mr. Bush, Mr. Kerry wrote that he didn't want the "debate to be distorted through your $100 million campaign fund" and challenged the president to a face-to-face debate.
"That's the game they play," Mr. Kerry told reporters yesterday while campaigning in New York. "They haven't come to you and said we need this [weapons] system and John Kerry voted against the system. They're saying he voted against defense ... and I'm not going to let them nickel-and-dime us on one system or another that was an individual vote."
But for the most part, Mr. Kerry has failed to address many of his Senate votes on defense and intelligence matters.
"If he wants to be commander in chief, he has to answer these questions," Mr. Bush's campaign chairman, Marc Racicot, said yesterday.
Mr. Racicot also said Mr. Kerry is trying to "cloud the issue" by complaining that Republicans are attacking his patriotism rather than his votes on defense issues in the Senate.
