Bush stressing Iraq war in his re-election effort

WASHINGTON — A year after ordering the invasion of Iraq, President Bush is moving the war to the forefront of his re-election effort with a weeklong barrage of speeches, an orchestrated set of interviews with senior Pentagon officials and a new television advertisement questioning Sen. John Kerry's support of the troops.

Bush's advisers said Tuesday that the president intended to press his case that the world is safer with Saddam Hussein out of power, and to use the first anniversary of the war's start a year ago on Friday to draw sharp contrasts with Kerry over foreign policy and leadership.

But the moves, which aides described as a new chapter in the campaign against Kerry, came as the bombings in Spain stirred new criticism of Bush's Iraq policy. They also underlined the extent to which the campaign had become subject to the unpredictability of overseas events, and pointed up the complications Bush faces in trying to balance the demands of the presidency with running a re-election effort.

In the Oval Office on Tuesday, Bush showed a flash of how personally confrontational he plans to be on Kerry's record on foreign affairs. With the Dutch prime minister, Jan Peter Balkenende, at his side, Bush demanded that Kerry provide evidence to support his suggestion last week that foreign leaders want to see Bush defeated.

"If you're going to make an accusation in the course of a presidential campaign, you've got to back it up with facts," Bush told reporters.

Underscoring the whipsaw nature of his roles as candidate and president, Bush then was asked if he and Balkenende had agreed on whether Dutch troops would remain in Iraq. Neither of them gave a firm answer.

Campaigning in West Virginia, on the same day when he won the Illinois primary and claimed that he had officially become the Democratic nominee, Kerry shot back by caustically challenging Bush's credibility across an array of fronts.

"Nothing is more important than telling the American people the truth about the economy, health care, and war and peace," Kerry told veterans. "This administration has yet to level with the American people."

The White House had long planned to use this week to focus attention on the war, terrorism and national security. They are issues the White House is counting on to build support for the president at a time when the other big subject of the campaign, the lack of jobs being created by the economy, is working against Bush.