Bush and McCain, Together, Call Iraq War a Conflict Between Good and Evil
By ELISABETH BUMILLER / Published: June 19, 2004
RENO, Nev., June 18 — President Bush and his old political nemesis Senator
John McCain shared a military stage on Friday to present an unusual joint defense
of the war in Iraq, calling it a conflict between good and evil that threatened
the existence of the United States.
The united front of the president and Mr. McCain, the Arizona Republican who
waged a bitter primary fight against Mr. Bush in 2000, was a striking development
at a time when the president is under political siege for stating that ties between
Iraq and Al Qaeda in part justified going to war against Saddam Hussein.
Although Mr. McCain did not assert any link between Iraq and Al Qaeda, he gave
a lengthy speech introducing Mr. Bush to thousands of soldiers at a steamy hanger
in Fort Lewis, Wash., using phrasing that closely followed the president's words
about Iraq and the administration's battles against terrorism.
"
It's a big thing, this war, a fight between two ideologies completely opposed
to each other," Mr. McCain told the soldiers, many of whom fought in Iraq
and Afghanistan. "It's a fight between a just regard for human dignity
and a malevolent force that defiles an honorable religion by disputing God's
love
for each and every soul on Earth. It's a fight between right and wrong, good
and evil. It's no more ambiguous than that."
Mr. McCain added that should the enemy acquire chemical, biological or nuclear
weapons, "this war will become an even bigger thing, it will become a
fight for survival."
Mr. Bush, in a speech that was a familiar thank you to the troops as well as
an update on the antiterrorism effort, repeated that Iraq had ties to Al Qaeda.
He did not dwell on the extent of those ties, which have been questioned by the
bipartisan commission investigating the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Instead, Mr. Bush pointed almost offhandedly to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian
jihadist who sought help from Al Qaeda in waging the anti-American insurgency
after Mr. Hussein's fall and who has been implicated in the killing of Nicholas
Berg, the American who was beheaded by militants in Iraq in May.
"
By the way," Mr. Bush said of Mr. Zarqawi, "he was the fellow who
was in Baghdad at times prior to our arrival. He was operating out of Iraq.
He was
an Al Qaeda associate. See, he was there before we came. He's there after we
came. And we'll find him."
Later, Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain appeared at an enormous rally at the Reno-Sparks
Convention Center, where they again reinforced each other to huge cheers.
"
Like all wars, this one has had its ups and down," Mr. McCain said. "It
will be a long, hard struggle, but it is a necessary and just war." Whether
or not Mr. Hussein had possessed unconventional weapons, Mr. McCain said, "he
had used them before and was, I have no doubt, firmly determined to acquire
them again for what terrible purpose we can only anticipate with dread."
It was last week when Mr. McCain was spurning Senator John Kerry's repeated proposals
to be his running mate, dashing hopes of Democrats who viewed a Kerry-McCain
ticket as unstoppable. A CBS News poll recently found that a Kerry-McCain ticket
had a 14 percentage point edge over Mr. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney among
registered voters, 53 percent to 39 percent, compared with most head-to-head
polls that show Mr. Kerry alone tied or slightly ahead of Mr. Bush.
Mr. Bush's political operatives say they never took the idea seriously, but they
did not hide their pleasure about seeing the independent and unpredictable Mr.
McCain suddenly at the president's side. Mr. McCain, a close friend of Mr. Kerry,
has regularly infuriated the White House with barbs over the last few years.
Mr. Bush's political advisers reached out to him during his flirtation with Mr.
Kerry, and Friday appeared to be a classic triumph of politics over personal
feeling.
Mr. McCain, asked why he was campaigning with Mr. Bush, genially replied, "First
time I was asked."
Mr. Bush appeared nothing but pleased that Mr. McCain was at his side.
"
Both candidates in this race are honored to be the friend of John McCain," the
president proclaimed here. "Only one of us gets his vote. And I am proud
that it is me."
At both stops, Mr. Bush and Mr. McCain linked arms in a tableau, creating an
image of the president with a Vietnam War hero and a man with a strong appeal
to independent voters that will be of use to Mr. Bush's campaign. Neither Mr.
Bush nor Vice President Dick Cheney served in combat.
"
There's fundamental agreement on the policies," a spokesman for the campaign,
Terry Holt, said. "This shows our party is united on the big issues."
At Fort Lewis, the largest Army installation on the West Coast, Mr. Bush exuded
admiration for the military service of Mr. McCain.
"
I want to thank Senator John McCain for joining us," the president told
the soldiers as he and Mr. McCain stood in front of camouflage netting. "It
is a privilege to be introduced to our men and women in uniform by a man
who brought such credit to the uniform. When he speaks of service and sacrifice,
he speaks from experience. The United States military has no better friend
in the United States Senate than John McCain."
Mr. McCain praised Mr. Bush for his leadership after Sept. 11, 2001.
"
He heard the call to action on that terrible morning in September and summoned
the rest of us to this long and difficult task," Mr. McCain said. "He
has led this country with moral clarity about the stakes involved and with
firm resolve to achieve unconditional victory."
Afterward, Mr. Bush jumped into the crowd and shook hands with the soldiers to the recorded tunes of "Stars and Stripes Forever" and "Anchors Aweigh." Mr. McCain hung back for a moment in the president's shadow, but then he plunged in, too.