Missing cache an explosive topic on campaign trail

[Say_What]

Kerry quote: "Mr. President, for the sake of our brave men and women in uniform, for the sake of those troops who are in danger because of your wrong decisions, you owe America real answers about what happened, not just political attacks,"

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PONTIAC, Mich. — President Bush fought yesterday to contain the political fallout from a cache of missing military explosives in Iraq, accusing Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry of making "wild charges" and denigrating U.S. forces.

In his first public remarks on the disappearance of 380 tons of conventional explosives near Baghdad, Bush said Kerry was jumping to conclusions and "denigrating the actions of our troops and commanders in the field" without knowing the facts.

"Unfortunately that's part of a pattern of saying anything it takes to get elected," Bush said during a campaign stop in Vienna, Ohio.

The president, breaking two days of silence on the issue, said military authorities were investigating a number of explanations including the possibility that Saddam Hussein removed the explosives from a set of bunkers before coalition troops arrived there.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002075023_campaign28.html