IRAQ

Bush: "For awhile (Kerry) was a strong supporter of getting rid of Saddam Hussein. He saw the wisdom -- until the Democrat primary came along and Howard Dean, the anti-war candidate, began to gain on him, and he changed positions.

"I don't see how you can lead this country in a time of war, in a time of uncertainty, if you change your mind because of politics.

"Saddam Hussein was a threat because he could have given weapons of mass destruction to terrorist enemies. Sanctions were not working. The United Nations was not effective at removing Saddam Hussein.

"I don't see how you can win in Iraq if you don't believe we should be there in the first place. I don't see how you can lead troops if you say it's the wrong war at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Kerry: "The president didn't find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, so he's really turned his campaign into a weapon of mass deception.

"The world is more dangerous today. The world is more dangerous today because the president didn't make the right judgments.

"I do believe Saddam Hussein was a threat. I always believed he was a threat. Believed it in 1998 when (Bill) Clinton was president. I wanted to give Clinton the power to use force if necessary.

"But I would have used that force wisely, I would have used that authority wisely, not rushed to war without a plan to win the peace.

"I would have brought our allies to our side. I would have fought to make certain our troops had everybody possible to help them win the mission.

"This president rushed to war, pushed our allies aside."

IRAN AND NORTH KOREA

Bush: "I fully understand the threat (from Iran). And that's why we're doing what he suggested we do: Get the Brits, the Germans and the French to go make it very clear to the Iranians that if they expect to be a party to the world, to give up their nuclear ambitions. We've been doing that.

"It is naive and dangerous to take a policy that he (Kerry) suggested the other day, which is to have bilateral relations with North Korea. Remember, he's the person who's accusing me of not acting multilaterally. He now wants to take the six-party talks we have -- China, North Korea, South Korea, Russia, Japan and the United States -- and undermine them by having bilateral talks.

"In my speech to the Congress I said: There's an axis of evil, Iraq, Iran and North Korea, and we're paying attention to it. And we're making progress."

Kerry: "I don't think you can just rely on UN sanctions (with respect to Iran) ... it is a threat, it's a huge threat.

"It's a threat that has grown while the president has been preoccupied with Iraq, where there wasn't a threat.

"Meanwhile, while Iran is moving toward nuclear weapons, some 37 tonnes of what they called yellow cake, the stuff they use to make enriched uranium, while they're doing that, North Korea has moved from one bomb maybe, maybe, to four to seven bombs.

"For two years, the president didn't even engage with North Korea, did nothing at all, while it was growing more dangerous.

"We were safer before President Bush came to office. Now (North Korea) have the bombs and we're less safe.

"We've got to join with the British and the French, with the Germans, who've been involved, in their initiative. We've got to lead the world now to crack down on proliferation as a whole.

"I'm going to lead the world in the greatest counter-proliferation effort. And if we have to get tough with Iran, believe me, we will get tough."

BUSH ON DIPLOMACY

Bush: "I recognize I've made some decisions that have caused people to not understand the great values of our country.

"I recognize that taking Saddam Hussein out was unpopular. But I made the decision because I thought it was in the right interests of our security.

"Sometimes in this world you make unpopular decisions because you think they're right.

"We'll continue to reach out.

"People love America. Sometimes they don't like the decisions made by America, but I don't think you want a president who tries to become popular and does the wrong thing."

ABORTION

Bush: "We're not going to spend taxpayers' money on abortion. This is an issue that divides America, but certainly reasonable people can agree on how to reduce abortions in America.

"I think it is a worthy goal in America to have every child protected by law and welcomed in life.

"Culture of life is really important for a country to have if it's going to be a hospitable society."

Kerry: "First of all, I cannot tell you how deeply I respect the belief about life and when it begins. I'm a Catholic, raised a Catholic. I was an altar boy. Religion has been a huge part of my life. It helped lead me through a war, leads me today.

"But I can't take what is an article of faith for me and legislate it for someone who doesn't share that article of faith, whether they be agnostic, atheist, Jew, Protestant, whatever. I can't do that."

ENVIRONMENT AND KYOTO

Bush: "I guess you'd say I'm a good steward of the land. The quality of the air's cleaner since I've been the president. Fewer water complaints since I've been the president. More land being restored since I've been the president.

"Had we joined the Kyoto (global warming) treaty ... it would have cost America a lot of jobs. It's one of these deals where, in order to be popular in the halls of Europe, you sign a treaty. But I thought it would cost a lot -- I think there's a better way to do it."

Kerry: "The president, I don't think, is living in a world of reality with respect to the environment. Now, when it comes to the issue of the environment, this is one of the worst administrations in modern history.

"They pulled out of the global warming (Kyoto treaty), declared it dead, didn't even accept the science. I'm going to be a president who believes in science.

"The fact is that the Kyoto treaty was flawed ... But this president didn't try to fix it. He just declared it dead, ladies and gentlemen, and we walked away from the work of 160 nations over 10 years.

"The president's done nothing to try to fix it. I will."

MILITARY DRAFT

Bush: "We're not going to have a draft, period.

"An all-volunteer army is best suited to fight the new wars of the 21st century, which is to be specialized and to find these people as they hide around the world.

"Forget all this talk about a draft. We're not going to have a draft so long as I am the president."

Kerry: "I don't support a draft.

"I'm going to add 40,000 active duty forces to the military, and I'm going to make people feel good about being safe in our military, and not overextended, because I'm going to run a foreign policy that actually does what President (Ronald) Reagan did, President (Dwight) Eisenhower did, and others."

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