WASHINGTON, April 7: US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday rebuked Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy for comparing the occupation of Iraq to Vietnam and suggesting President George Bush's policies had incited hatred against the United States.

In a rare foray into domestic politics, Mr Powell said Senator Ted Kennedy, an outspoken Bush opponent and supporter of Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry, should be "more restrained and careful" when discussing Iraq and the "war on terrorism".

In the speech, Mr Kennedy likened the Iraq invasion and occupation to the 1961-75 campaign in Vietnam, which claimed the lives of 58,000 US soldiers and an estimated three million Vietnamese.

"Iraq is George Bush's Vietnam, and this country needs a new president," Senator Kennedy said, adding that by going to war, the United States had angered key US allies, made America "more hated in the world" and complicated the "war on terrorism".

At the same time, Mr Powell also stressed that American democracy was enhanced by debate and admitted that he had not seen all of the Monday speech in which Mr Kennedy made the comments.

"I was in Haiti and didn't see the whole speech, but I must say that Senator Kennedy, I think, should be a little more restrained and careful in his comments because we are at war," Mr Powell said in an interview on a nationally syndicated radio broadcast. -AFP