Claims add fuel to Kerry's fire

WASHINGTON - With one month to go in a tightening White House race, an invigorated Democratic Senator John Kerry raised new questions about whether the White House misled the country into war in Iraq.

Bush Administration officials defended the Iraq invasion and disputed a New York Times report claiming they ignored doubts about whether high-strength aluminium tubes seized in 2001 were destined to be used for a revived Iraqi nuclear programme.

At a campaign stop in Ohio, Kerry said the report "raises serious questions about whether or not the Administration was open and honest in making the case for the war in Iraq" and said President George W. Bush similarly avoided the truth on key economic issues. "This is a time where ... the Administration also chooses to avoid the facts and the truth," he said. "Not just in the issues about how we went to war - the intelligence, what intelligence we had or didn't have - but just look around you in the economy of our country."

The exchanges came at the start of a week featuring two debates where Kerry and running mate John Edwards will try to build on their momentum from Friday's first face-to-face encounter with Bush, which polls showed was a clear win for Kerry.

A Newsweek poll showed Kerry climbed to a two-point lead after the debate. A Los Angeles Times poll showed Kerry improved his image among voters but did not dramatically shift the horse race with Bush.

After the debate, Kerry argued in economically battered Ohio that Bush had burdened US taxpayers with policies that helped companies ship jobs and tax revenues offshore.

Kerry also took a swipe at Bush over the Times report. However, on ABC's This Week, Bush's national security adviser Condoleezza Rice defended her 2002 claim about former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's nuclear capabilities and laid the blame for faulty intelligence on departed CIA Director George Tenet.

White House communications director Dan Bartlett said on CBS's Face the Nation "it was the [CIA] director ... and others who said we believe this to be the case."

Iraq is certain to be a key topic at tomorrow's debate in Cleveland, Ohio between Democratic vice-presidential candidate John Edwards and Vice-President Dick Cheney, a key architect of the Administration's Iraqi policy.

On Saturday, Bush and Kerry meet for their second debate in St Louis, Missouri, where undecided voters compose the questions, allowing a discussion on domestic issues.

The third and final presidential debate, on October 13, in Tempe, Arizona, will focus strictly on domestic policy.

- REUTERS