US President George W. Bush has slammed Democratic rival John Kerry over his views on Iraq claiming they were formed out of political expediency. Kerry hit back claiming that Bush was using "distortions" to hide a deteriorating situation there.
Appearing before a convention of National Guard veterans in Las Vegas, Bush said he was proud of his Vietnam-era service in the Guard but did not address questions about whether he had fulfilled his duties.
Democrats fanned the controversy with a new Web video questioning Bush's truthfulness and comparing his Guard stint in the United States during the Vietnam War to the tens of thousands of Guard forces now serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Seven weeks before the November 2 election, polls show Bush leading Kerry, and the Iraq war has supplanted the economy as the No. 1 issue among voters in many polls.
Bush accused Kerry, a Massachusetts senator who voted to authorise military operations in Iraq but has criticised the cost and the way it was done, of vacillating on the war.
"What's critical is that the president of the United States speak clearly and consistently at this time of great threat in our world, and not change positions because of expediency or pressure," Bush told the National Guard Association of the United States.
Kerry responded in a written statement that "things are getting worse" in Iraq but Bush refused to tell the truth to the American people.
"Today, we heard more of the same distortions from the president about the situation in Iraq. George W. Bush keeps saying that things are getting better even when we all know that's just not true," Kerry said.
"But why would we expect George Bush to level with us about Iraq? He never has," Kerry said. "The situation is serious - and we need a president who will set a new direction and be straight with the American people."
The exchange on Iraq, one of the most direct of the campaign, came two days before Kerry makes his own visit to the National Guard convention.
Bush, accused of failing to complete his duties and pulling strings to get preferential treatment in the Guard, told the veterans he hoped to provide active Guard members at least 30 days notice for future mobilisations and give some certainty about the length of their tours.
"I know this time of call-ups, alerts, mobilisations and deployments has been difficult for Guard members and their families and employers," Bush said. "We owe you some things in return."