Here in the United States, Democratic Senator and former Presidential nominee John Kerry has stirred a new war of words with the White House just one week before the mid-term election. The spat began Monday when Kerry spoke at a rally in California.

Sen. John Kerry: “We’re here to talk about education, but I want to say something before, you know education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

Kerry now claims he made a botched joke and intended to mean if students didn’t study they would end up like President Bush and get the nation stuck in Iraq. But Republicans seized on the comments and said Kerry owes US troops an apology. President Bush spoke in Georgia on Tuesday.

President Bush: “The members of the United States military are plenty smart. And they are plenty brave. And the Senator from Massachusetts owes them an apology.”

After a barrage of Republican criticism, Kerry remained defiant.

Sen. John Kerry: “I apologize to no one for my criticism of the president and of his broken policy. If anyone owes our troops in the fields an apology, it is the president and his failed team and a Republican majority in the Congress that has been willing to stamp–rubber-stamp–policies that have done injury to our troops and their families.”

At least one Democrat has rebuked Kerry for his remarks. Bruce Braley, a Democratic Congresssional candidate in Iowa, has cancelled a campaign appearance with Kerry for later this week.