George W. Bush (top) and John Kerry. (Reuters, AFP)

Tampa (Florida), March 9 (Reuters): Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry blasted the White House yesterday for “bad, rushed decisions” like the war with Iraq that he said had cost American lives.

In a heated campaign tit-for-tat, the Massachusetts Senator exchanged charges and countercharges with President George W. Bush who called him “deeply irresponsible” for proposing intelligence cuts.

“Once again, Senator Kerry is trying to have it both ways. He’s for good intelligence, yet he was willing to gut the intelligence services,” Bush told a Houston fundraiser. “And that is no way to lead our nation in a time of war. As I tell people, war’s what they got with George W. Bush as President, and we’re going to win the war,” he told a local television station in an interview.

At a Republican fundraiser in Des Moines, Iowa, Cheney spoke of a conversation he had with a soldier who told him “indecision kills.” “Indecision kills,” Cheney said. “These are not times for leaders who shift with the political winds, saying one thing one day and another thing the next. We need a commander-in- chief of a clear vision and steady determination.”

Kerry, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, hit back, telling a rally in Tampa: “Vice-President Cheney... attacked me and I'm just quaking up here.” But he quickly turned serious.

“He then invoked a soldier’s comment to him that indecision kills,” Kerry said. “Well, let me tell you something Mr Cheney, Mr President, bad, rushed decisions kill too.”

He told supporters he expected a tough eight-month campaign.