sisyphusshrugged | and about damn time too, might I add

while Mr. Allawi is showing his commitment to the future of his country by staying well away from the fighting (yet another thing he and Our Fearless Leader have bonded over*), Mr. Kerry says the situation isn't as rosy as the administration is painting it, and about damn time, too

*Mr. Allawi also really likes executions.

President Bush on Friday accused Sen. John Kerry of attacking the credibility of Iraq's leader and branded his Democratic rival unfit to lead America.

Bush lashed out at Kerry a day after the Democrat charged that upbeat comments about Iraq by the president and Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi were glossing over the problems in the war-torn country.

"You can't lead this country if your ally in Iraq feels like you questioned his credibility," Bush said during a bus tour in this battleground state.

With just over five weeks to go before the Nov. 2 election, Kerry has made his critique of Bush's Iraq policies the focal point of his rhetoric as he tries to wrest back Bush's post-convention advantage in the polls.

"My opponent chose to criticize the prime minister of Iraq," Bush said.

"This brave man came to talk about how he's risking his life for a free Iraq -- which helps America -- and Senator Kerry held a press conference and questioned Prime Minister Allawi's credibility," he added.

A new Time magazine poll showed Bush's lead over Kerry narrowing to six percentage points from the 11-point edge he had two weeks ago in the same survey.

The poll indicated a credibility gap on Iraq for Bush. Just 37 percent of registered voters thought he was being truthful in describing conditions in Iraq and 55 percent thought conditions were worse than he made them out to be.