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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>[two colleagues write...]</FONT></DIV>
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<H1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><FONT
size=2><FONT face=Arial>Published on Friday, December 12, 2003 by
CommonDreams.org<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></SPAN></H1>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt"><STRONG>Playing Politics
with Iraq<o:p></o:p></STRONG></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><STRONG> <o:p></o:p></STRONG></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">by Leonard Williams and Neil
Wollman</SPAN><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 18pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">In May of 2002, Vice
President Cheney warned Democrats not to seek political advantage from the war
against terrorism. Now that the Bush administration views Iraq as the “central
front” in that war, the news indicates that some people are indeed seeking
political advantage from that conflict—despite Cheney’s warning. It is not just
the Democrats running for president, though. These days, Republicans and the
Bush administration are the ones most focused on using the war for electoral
purposes. </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">To set the stage, think
back to the 2002 congressional elections when Republicans painted any skepticism
about the President’s policies as disloyal and unpatriotic. Then, last July, the
Washington Times quoted Ed Gillespie, chairman of the Republican National
Committee, as saying that Democrats “have crossed the line” of acceptable
discourse by trying to score political points when American troops and the Iraqi
people are facing life-and-death situations. Now, with the start of the
presidential campaign, Iowa voters are being shown television ads proclaiming
that: “Some are now attacking the president for attacking the terrorists.”
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The national Republican
Party wants to turn the debate over war with Iraq to their partisan advantage.
Their reasons for doing so can be traced to the fact that President Bush’s
popularity has declined. It has declined because the original rationale for the
war (large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction) has not been supported by
any evidence. His popularity has also declined because the postwar occupation of
Iraq has not gone smoothly. </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">What has been the
administration’s response to these policy failures? Their first response was to
change the rationale for the war. Where the United States was once confronting a
looming military threat, now it is said to be creating a free society in an
antidemocratic region. This argument rarely surfaced until late in the pre-war
debate, likely because it was not a compelling reason for invading a sovereign
nation. </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Their second response has
been to schedule a faster transition to a new Iraqi government. This represents
a change in what the administration previously considered important to
establishing a free and stable Iraq, namely writing a constitution and building
infrastructure over several years rather than quickly holding independent
elections or hastily training Iraqi security forces. Despite its earlier
statements, the administration has also made a strong push to internationalize
the Iraqi situation. While this would result in fewer American casualties, it
would also let the United States shift some blame if things do not work out as
planned. </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">In each case, President
Bush and his Republican allies have denied that they are changing direction or
acting politically. And they have now intensified earlier criticisms of
Democrats, saying that it is the critics of the war and the occupation who are
(as Sen. Orrin Hatch said) “playing cheap politics” with national security. They
argue that Democrats are trying to make political hay out of the
administration’s difficulties in Iraq. At the same time, conservative
commentators have been hitting Democratic presidential candidates hard by saying
that their criticisms of administration policy are not only unpatriotic, but
give aid and comfort to “the enemy.” </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">While accusing Democrats of
partisan motives, administration officials such as Secretary of State Colin
Powell still assert that the advent of new policies in Iraq somehow “rises above
domestic politics.” How is this possible, when such policy changes clearly
follow on the heels of daily casualties for coalition forces and steady declines
in the President’s poll ratings? In our view, when they say it’s not about
politics, it’s about politics. The policy change has to be political, because
prior to Iraq becoming a political liability for President Bush, the Iraqis were
said to be not yet ready for self-government. </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Can the administration’s
policy shift have occurred (as national security adviser Condoleezza Rice has
asserted) simply because there was a “clamor” for self-rule among the Iraqis
themselves? We doubt it, because earlier appeals by Iraqis and the international
community went unheard. Now that a sizable number of Americans think that our
country is off on the wrong track and that it may be time to elect a Democrat as
president, the administration’s hearing has suddenly become better than ever.
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Note that it is not just
prominent Democrats, such as Sen. Hillary Clinton, who are calling the advanced
Iraqi timetable a strategy to help President Bush win re-election. Members of
Iraq’s own Governing Council are doing so, too. In our view, the
administration’s favorite Iraqi, Ahmad Chalabi, has revealed the true reason for
the policy shift toward a speedy “Iraqification.” As Chalabi told the New York
Times, the “whole thing was set up so President Bush could come to the airport
in October for a ceremony to congratulate the new Iraqi government”—just in time
to influence the November elections. </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">So who’s playing politics
with Iraq now? </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Leonard
Williams (<A
href="mailto:LAWilliams@manchester.edu">LAWilliams@manchester.edu</A>) is
Professor of Political Science, and Neil Wollman (<A
href="mailto:NJWollman@manchester.edu">NJWollman@manchester.edu</A>) is Senior
Fellow with the Peace Studies Institute, at Manchester College in North
Manchester, Indiana.</SPAN></DIV></BODY></HTML>