Iraq: The Wrong 'Wedge Issue'

By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Friday, October 31, 2003; Page A25

In debate after debate, Democratic presidential candidates pile on President Bush for his Iraq policy. They challenge his veracity in making the case for war and attack the chaos that has taken hold since Saddam Hussein's army melted away.

The media, so kind to Bush in the months after Sept. 11, 2001, got their edge back. The current cover of Newsweek is not what the administration ever expected to see. "Bush's $87 Billion Mess," blares a headline that also points to "Waste, Chaos and Cronyism" in the rebuilding of Iraq. If Republicans were not in control of Congress, the magazine's devastating findings would prompt elaborate hearings and investigations.

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KEY QUOTES:

"What's striking about this document is not only that it lays the groundwork for an alternative foreign policy vision to Bush's. It also demonstrates, as its authors say, that if Bush had not turned national security into "a partisan wedge issue," there would have been room for a wide consensus on confronting terrorism and advancing democracy worldwide."

"Bush never expected to get a hearing from foreign policy doves. Now he has lost many hawks who might have supported him. They cannot understand why his administration prepared so badly for the occupation of Iraq, why it was so ready to alienate allies and why it didn't prepare Americans for how costly its ambitions would prove to be. This is a political problem for Bush. It's a tragedy for the country he leads."