Romney, Kerry Spar Over Fight on Terror

http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...08/12/romney_kerry_spar_over_fight_on_terror/

Romney, Kerry spar over fight on terror
Governor raps senator for criticizing Iraq war

By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | August 12, 2006

WASHINGTON -- The terrorist attack foiled by British authorities prompted a battle of words yesterday between a pair of presidential contenders from Massachusetts, with Governor Mitt Romney lashing out at Senator John F. Kerry for suggesting that the war in Iraq has harmed the nation's security.


Kerry, the Democrats' 2004 presidential nominee, seized on news of the disrupted plot as a ``stark reminder" that Osama bin Laden remains at large and said it shows that Al Qaeda has ``grown in strength" since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

``Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda have succeeded in isolating the United States," Kerry, a Democrat, said during a conference call organized on behalf of Patrick Murphy, a Democratic candidate in a Pennsylvania House race. ``Afghanistan and Pakistan are where the fight against Al Qaeda is, not in Iraq."

Asked about Kerry's comments during an appearance on the MSNBC cable network, Romney blasted Kerry. The governor said the senator failed to recognize that the United States is locked in a long-term war against terrorists and that Iraq is a central front.

``I think it shows a complete lack of understanding of the kind of enemy that we're facing," said Romney, a Republican. ``This is not a small group of wackos in the hills that all we have to do is go find one person and it suddenly goes away."