WATERTOWN, S.D. — In a day of intense verbal sparring, Sen. Barack Obama angrily accused President Bush and Sen. John McCain on Friday of strengthening America's enemies in the Middle East and relying on "fear-mongering" to silence critics of their policies.
Obama took them to task a day after Bush, in a speech to the Israeli parliament, took what Democrats saw as a swipe at Obama, criticizing those who call for negotiations with terrorists as agents of "appeasement" and citing the Nazi era.
"He accused me and other Democrats of wanting to negotiate with terrorists and said we were appeasers no different from people who appeased Adolf Hitler," Obama said at a rally that drew 2,100 to an agricultural arena in this small town.
"Now that's exactly the kind of appalling attack that's divided our country and that alienates us from the world."
A spokesman for McCain, whose jabs at the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination have become increasingly pointed, accused Obama of a "hysterical diatribe in response to a speech where his name wasn't even mentioned."
Obama's theme Friday was to have been rural affairs. Standing on a floor covered with hay and sawdust, he apologized for changing the subject and chided Bush, saying he had violated protocol by launching "a political attack targeted toward the domestic market in front of a foreign delegation."
The Illinois senator used the occasion to criticize Bush and McCain on foreign policy. He said that Iraq was once a counterweight to Iran's power in the Middle East but that since the 2003 invasion -- which McCain supported and Obama opposed -- Iran had gained influence in war-torn Iraq.
Obama also said the White House was to blame for Hamas' hold on Gaza.
Bush did not mention Obama in his Knesset speech. "Some seem to believe we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along," the president said.
Obama laughed when told the White House had denied that the president was referring to him. "Who's this 'some' they're talking about?" he asked. "That's disingenuous."
In the afternoon, McCain repeated his frequent criticism of Obama's pledge to talk with the leaders of countries considered hostile to America. "Sen. Obama would meet unconditionally with some of the world's worst dictators and state sponsors of terrorists," McCain said at the National Rifle Assn.'s annual meeting in Louisville, Ky. "I would not add to the prestige of those who support violent extremists or seek to destroy our allies."
