August 20, 2004 - 4:30 AM

Kerry hits back at Bush over Vietnam record

By Carol Giacomo

BOSTON (Reuters) - John Kerry has accused U.S. President George W. Bush of using surrogates to "do his dirty
work," as the Democratic presidential challenger hits back at a Republican assault on his Vietnam War record.

In his toughest response yet to questions of whether he deserved the honours he won in war, Kerry said if the president
wanted to debate the issue of their respective battle records then "Bring it on."

Kerry said a group called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which has attacked the Massachusetts senator's war
record in television advertisements, was funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars from a Republican contributor in
Texas, Bush's home state.

"They're a front for the Bush campaign. And the fact that the president won't denounce what they're up to tells you
everything you need to know: he wants them to do his dirty work," Kerry told a convention of the International Association
of Fire Fighters, which supports him.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "We will never raise questions about his (Kerry's) service. We haven't
and we won't."

Kerry has been put on the defensive by weeks of Republican criticism of his Vietnam War service as a decorated Navy
lieutenant. In response the his campaign abandoned its plan not to run ads until later by launching its own ads with
crewmen from Kerry's boat supporting the candidates' version.

"Of course, the president keeps telling people he would never question my service to our country. Instead, he watches
as a Republican-funded attack group does just that.

"Well, if he wants to have a debate about our service in Vietnam, here is my answer: 'Bring it on,'" the Massachusetts
senator said, to cheers from the firefighters.

The Iraq war and fear of terrorism have made foreign policy and national security more important than economic issues
in this presidential election, for the first time since the Vietnam era, the Pew Research Centre said in a poll Wednesday.

Kerry's supporters have contrasted his record with that of Bush, who spent the war in the United States serving in the
Texas Air National Guard.

"Senator Kerry knows that his latest attack is false and baseless," McClellan said. "The president has condemned all
of the ads by the shadowy groups."

A report on Thursday in the Washington Post said military records contradicted a claim that Kerry did not come under
fire during the battle that resulted in military honours for the Democratic senator.

Larry Thurlow, who commanded a Navy boat alongside Kerry in Vietnam, has disputed that Kerry was shot at during
the March 1969 raid that resulted in Bronze Stars being awarded to both men. Thurlow is a member of Swift Boat
Veterans for Truth.

Thurlow's military records contain references to "enemy small arms and automatic fire" directed at "all units" of the
five-boat flotilla, the Post said.

In a response on the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Web site, Thurlow said he believed the references came from a
report Kerry wrote and were false.

Kerry noted that 30 years ago, official Navy reports documented his service in Vietnam and awarded him the Silver
Star, the Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts.

"Thirty years ago, this was the plain truth. It still is. And I still carry the shrapnel in my leg from a wound in Vietnam," he
added.

Speaking later in New Hampshire, Kerry assailed Bush for failing to address critical health issues that have left millions
of Americans with no insurance or in debt.

"He has not set out a major plan for America. He can't even make up his mind about importing drugs," said Kerry, who
supports imports of cheap prescription drugs from Canada and elsewhere.