Fri, Sep. 17, 2004
BY FRANK JAMES AND RICK PEARSON
Chicago Tribune
http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/special_packages/election2004/9693680.htmALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - (KRT) - Sen. John Kerry contended Friday that President Bush plans a huge post-election mobilization of National Guard members and reservists for the Iraq war, but the Bush campaign countered that Kerry was engaging in an "irresponsible" conspiracy
>>>>>
"He won't tell us what congressional leaders are now saying, that this administration is planning yet another substantial call-up of reservist and Guard units immediately after the election," Kerry said at a town hall-style meeting at a community center in the battleground state of New Mexico. "Hide it from people through the election, then make the move."
>>>>>
But even as Kerry accused Bush of a secret mobilization plan to quell disorder in Iraq, he questioned whether the president really knows "what's happening" there.
"He doesn't tell us that with each passing day, we're seeing more chaos, more violence, more indiscriminate killings," Kerry said. "He won't tell us that, day by day, we're running out of soldiers and that we're now resorted to a backdoor draft of our reservists and our National Guard."