WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) delivered the Democratic response to President Bush’s speech in Charleston, SC on the fight against terrorism and Iraq.

Below is Senator Kerry’s statement:

"Today the President ignored his own intelligence agencies and continued to spin a false rationale for the escalation of the war in Iraq,” Senator Kerry said. “The National Intelligence Estimate contradicted what the President said today and made it clear that Al Qaeda is stronger because of our massive military presence in Iraq. No surplus of presidential scare tactics changes the fact that Iraqis will only stand up if we give them deadlines and engage in diplomacy. The President continues to traffic in the politics of fear rather than give our troops a policy based on truth."

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