US: President Bush claims he has made the US safer, but warns that it remains threatened by terrorists, accelerating an election-year debate over his leadership in the global fight against Islamic extremists five years after the attacks of September 11th.
Mr Bush touted his accomplishments in a visit on Tuesday to the National Counter-terrorism Centre. But former president Clinton accused Republicans of using the reported London terror plot for political purposes and questioned Mr Bush's national security priorities.
The exchange illustrated the emotional punch of the terrorism issue as both parties head into autumn campaigns with Mr Bush's popular support lagging and Republican control of Congress at stake.
Republicans have argued successfully in the last two election cycles that they do a better job fighting terrorists, but polls have shown a sharp drop in faith in their handling of the issue.
The White House believes the reported London plot offers an opportunity to remind voters that the danger from terrorism remains stark, while Democrats see an opportunity to argue that the Iraq war has distracted from the hunt for al-Qaeda.
"America is safer than it has been. But it's not yet safe," Mr Bush said during a break in five hours of briefings at the counterterrorism centre. "The enemy has got an advantage when it comes to attacking our homeland. They've got to be right one time, and we've got to be right a hundred per cent of the time to protect the American people."
Mr Clinton, who generally refrains from criticising Mr Bush by name, said Republicans were "trying to play politics" with the London arrests. "They seem to be anxious to tie it to al-Qaeda," he told ABC News. "If that's true, how come we've got seven times as many troops in Iraq as in Afghanistan? Why has the administration and congressional leadership consistently opposed adequate checks on cargo containers at ports and airports?"
Vice-president Dick Cheney accused Democrats of "defeatism", citing the victory of antiwar candidate Ned Lamont over Senator Joseph Lieberman in the Connecticut Democratic primary last week.
"What these Democrats are pushing now is the very kind of retreat that has been tried in the past," Mr Cheney said.
Meanwhile, today, 21 former generals, diplomats and national security officials will release an open letter arguing that the administration's "hard line" has undermined US security.
Lieut Gen Robert Gard, one of the signatories and a former military assistant to defence secretary Robert McNamara in the 1960s, said the group was particularly concerned about administration policies toward Iran, believing them to be a possible prelude to a military attack on suspected nuclear sites in that country.
Gen Gard noted that Iran had in the past sought to open negotiations with the US through Swiss intermediaries, efforts the signatories believe are worth exploring as a means of defusing tensions in the region.
But the general said the administration appeared to be going in the opposite direction, adding that he was particularly concerned by recent warnings from former Israeli military officials that a strike against Iran might be needed to disable that country's nuclear programme.
He noted that the Bush administration's unabashedly pro-Israel stance during the recent conflict with Hizbullah was an indication that the White House might accede to such Israeli assessments.