Kerry Says Bush Should Seek Help on Iraq

MILWAUKEE - As the Bush administration and military commanders considered whether to send more troops to Iraq (news - web sites) to deal with rising violence, Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites) said President Bush (news - web sites) should ask other countries for help.


"I believe it is the role of the president of the United States to maximize the ability to be successful and to minimize the cost to the American people, both financially and in lives," Kerry said Thursday in Wisconsin.


"That's common sense," he said. "And here today, once again, we are asking the question, 'Why is the United States of America almost alone in carrying this burden and the risks which the world has a stake in?'"


As Kerry, the presumed Democratic presidential nominee spoke, U.S. forces battled Shiite Muslim militants and Sunni insurgents in Iraq. The violence has claimed nearly three dozen American lives since last weekend, and Kerry cited television images of bloody U.S. soldiers.

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