Kerry condemns Bush 'leadership failure'

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry today accused President George Bush of a “failure of leadership” in the conduct of the war in Iraq, contending the president had also failed to minimise the risks for American soldiers as well as the costs for taxpayers.

“This administration has been gridlocked by its own ideology, its own arrogance,” Kerry told Democratic donors in Milwaukee. “We can succeed but, boy, it’s a lot tougher than it has to be.”