久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

  Home>News Center>World
         
 

Cheney, Edwards go toe to toe in debate
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-10-06 13:56

US Vice President Dick Cheney accused the Democratic presidential ticket Tuesday night of turning against the Iraq war for political gain. "We need a fresh start" countered Sen. John Edwards in campaign debate, accusing the administration of mismanaging the conflict.

In a clash at close quarters, the Democratic vice presidential candidate accused Cheney of "not being straight" with the public about a war that has claimed more than 1,000 American lives. He said casualties are rising monthly and the United States is bearing 90 percent of the cost of the conflict as well as suffering 90 percent of the dead and wounded.


US Vice President Dick Cheney takes notes as Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards speaks during their vice presidential debate at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2004. [AP]

Cheney challenged that, saying the Iraqi security forces had taken nearly half of the casualties. "For you to demean their sacrifice is beyond the pale," he said to Edwards, seated practically at his elbow.

The vice president also criticized Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry for taking "the wrong side" on defense issues over the past three decades.

"I'm saying specifically that I don't believe he has the qualities we need in a commander in chief," he said.

The two men debated exactly four weeks before Election Day in a race for the White House that has drawn closer in recent days. The debate format encouraged give-and-take — and neither the Bush administration's powerful second-in-command nor Kerry's running mate shrunk from the task in their only encounter.

"Frankly, senator, you have a record that's not very distinguished," Cheney said to Edwards, citing him for a pattern of absences during his single term in the Senate.

Edwards summed up his points like the former trial lawyer he is.

In a jab at the Bush-Cheney campaign's claim on experience, he said, "Mr. Vice President, I don't think the country can take four more years of this type of experience."

Cheney listened politely to Edwards — a contrast to Bush, who repeatedly grimaced and scowled last week while Kerry attacked the administration's record.

From the first moments of the debate, the vice president also sought to place the war in Iraq into a larger context than Bush was able to emphasize, saying it must be viewed as part of the overall global war on terror.

Cheney, 63, and Edwards, 51, sat a few feet apart around a semicircular table on a stage at Case Western Reserve University. Bush and his Democratic rival held the first of three presidential debates last Thursday, an encounter that Kerry is widely perceived to have won.

Polls since then have shown the four-term Massachusetts senator gaining in the polls, closing the gap with Bush in some and pulling into a statistical tie in others.

Cheney and Edwards got some encouraging news from post-debate polls. An ABC News poll of debate watchers said the vice president had won. A CBS survey of undecideds said Edwards had triumphed.

Edwards was on the attack from the opening moments of the debate. Cheney sought methodically — sometimes sarcastically — to rebut his rival's claims.

Edwards said that in addition to mismanaging the war in Iraq, the administration had Osama bin Laden cornered in the mountains of Afghanistan at one point. But, he said, Bush turned over the hunt for the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to Afghan warlords.

"The senator has got his facts wrong," said Cheney, one of several times he accused his counterpart of misstatements. "We've never let up on Osama bin Laden from Day One. We've actively and aggressively pursued him."

As for Iraq, the vice president said Kerry voted to authorize the war, then voted against an $87 billion aid package for Iraq and Afghanistan. He said the Massachusetts senator — as well as Edwards — had changed their mind due to the pressure of the Democratic primary campaign.

"These are two individuals who have been for the war when the headlines were good and against it when their poll ratings were bad," the vice president said. He added, "If they couldn't stand up to pressures that Howard Dean represented, how can we expect them to stand up to al-Qaida?" he said.

Cheney also said Kerry had declared during last week's debate that he would put American military commitments overseas to a global test. He said that was part of a record that led Kerry to oppose the first Persian Gulf War in 1991 and "always being on the wrong side" of defense issues.

On domestic issues, Edwards said Bush has presided over a loss of jobs during his administration — the first president to do so since Herbert Hoover sat in the White House. He also said more Americans are in poverty, and living without health insurance, than when the president took the oath of office in 2001.

"The economy is on an upswing," the vice president said, with the creation of jobs. He noted that on Monday Bush had signed his fourth tax cut into law in four years.

He said a Kerry administration would seek to raise taxes — a claim Edwards disputed even before it was spoken. The Democrat said Kerry's proposal calls for rolling back the Bush tax cuts on only those earning $200,000 or more a year.

Cheney, whose daughter, Mary, is a lesbian, spoke supportively about gay relationships and said that "people ought to be free to choose any arrangement they want." At the same time, Bush supports passage of a constitutional marriage to ban gay marriage, and Cheney said, "He sets policy for this administration, and I support him."

Edwards said it was obvious that the Cheneys loved their daughter and that "you can't have anything but respect" for them. "I believe marriage is between a man and a woman and so does John Kerry," Edwards said. But, he added, "We should not use the Constitution to divide this country."

Edwards also charged that Cheney, as the chief executive officer of Halliburton, pushed to lift U.S. sanctions against Iran, did business with countries that were "sworn enemies of the United States," and that Halliburton paid millions of dollars in fines for providing false information "just like Enron and Ken Lay," the now indicted former chief.

Cheney accused Edwards of "trying to throw up a smoke screen" and said "there's no substance to the charges."

Kerry and Edwards have sought to link Cheney to Halliburton as a symbol of corporate greed and insider connections. Halliburton has reported making more than $7.6 billion so far from U.S. government contracts in Iraq.

Kerry and Bush have two remaining debates, Friday in St. Louis and Oct. 13 in Tempe, Ariz.



 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

BASE jumping takes flight in Shanghai

 

   
 

Fireworks plant blast kills 27 in Guangxi

 

   
 

Iran says its missiles can reach 1,250 miles

 

   
 

Country makes strides in space technology

 

   
 

White House on defensive after Bremer talk

 

   
 

Nation's media urged to promote safe sex

 

   
  U.S. stretches out S. Korea troop cut until 2008
   
  EU may clear Turkey membership talks
   
  Israel says freezing talks, no Palestinian state
   
  Blair arrives in Sudan to press for Darfur peace
   
  Cheney, Edwards go toe to toe in debate
   
  3 US scientists share 2004 Nobel Prize in physics
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 中文字字幕码一二区 | 香蕉久久夜色精品国产2020 | 国产欧美综合一区二区 | 日本高清专区一区二无线 | 久久亚洲国产精品五月天 | 亚洲毛片在线 | 久久这里只有精品免费视频 | 欧美激情第一欧美在线 | 日韩中文字幕免费在线观看 | 久久香蕉国产线看观看精品yw | 国产精品一区二区三区四区五区 | 亚洲成人在线播放 | 国产午夜精品理论片 | 呦女精品视频 | 国产a一级毛片含羞草传媒 国产a自拍 | 国产精品黑丝 | 亚洲成年| 亚洲在线免费观看视频 | 欧美精品hdxxxxx | 精品色综合 | 久草在线网站 | 萌白酱喷水福利视频在线 | 欧美特级一级毛片 | 欧美激情 自拍 | 成人免费福利片在线观看 | 国产精品深爱在线 | 国内精品久久久久久野外 | 亚洲天堂手机在线 | 91久久精品青青草原伊人 | 国产制服 国产制服一区二区 | 在线欧美精品二区三区 | 欧美一级va在线视频免费播放 | 国产盗摄精品一区二区三区 | 白嫩美女一级毛片免费看 | 欧美日韩精品乱国产 | 美女又黄又免费 | 91亚洲自偷手机在线观看 | 在线观看一区二区三区视频 | 欧美成人久久久 | xxxwww欧美性| 99久久一区|