If Democrats lay low on war, Bush will defeat himself
Wed Feb 19, 7:54 AM ET Add Op/Ed - USA TODAY to My Yahoo!
DeWayne Wickham
It's time for Democrats who oppose George W. Bush's push for war with Iraq to shut up.
Congressional Democrats, in particular, should muzzle their criticism of the president. Instead of publicly questioning his reasons for wanting to invade Iraq, they should voice strong support for the men and women Bush will send into battle -- and give the president no reason to blame them for the bad things that almost certainly will result from his handling of this situation.
In the coming weeks, the president is expected to order a ''first strike'' on Iraq. The televised images of U.S. troops pouring into that Muslim country will be a recruitment poster for Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s terrorist organization and the cause of widespread protests around the world.
''If they continue to criticize Bush, Democrats will be blamed for creating the atmosphere for his failure to build multilateral support for war with Iraq,'' said William Gray, the former Democratic Pennsylvania congressman who was the House majority whip during the 1991 Persian Gulf War (news - web sites).
Gray, who now heads the United Negro College Fund, said that Democrats have much to lose and little to gain from dragging out their opposition to the war Bush wants to wage against Iraq. ''You can't beat a president when it comes to foreign policy,'' he said, ''but he can beat himself.''
No support from U.N.
That's exactly what Bush seems to be doing. After weeks of lobbying United Nations (news - web sites) Security Council members, the president suffered a serious setback Friday, when just three of the body's 15 members backed his push for a resolution that would give the United States authority to wage war on Iraq.
The next day, anti-war demonstrations were held in 350 cities around the world, including a massive one in New York City.
This doesn't seem to have caused Bush to pull back from the precipice of war. Instead, he used the backdrop of a Florida Naval Station last week to warn the United Nations against becoming ''an ineffective, irrelevant debating society'' -- a condition that presumably will befall the world body if its members don't let him have his way with Iraq.
''I'm optimistic that free nations will show backbone and courage in the face of true threats to peace and freedom,'' Bush told his military audience.
Gray is right; Democrats would be wise not to take on Bush when he is acting in his role of commander in chief. The better strategy for them is to focus their criticism on the Bush administration's domestic policies -- especially the president's mishandling of the nation's economic problems.
Indeed, it's the economy
Unemployment has increased nearly 50% since Bush took office.
The $236 billion surplus he inherited from the Clinton administration has turned into a $304 billion deficit on his watch.
Personal bankruptcies reached an all-time high last year.
Democrats should harp on this bad economic news.
If Bush proceeds, it's a good bet that, although Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime will be gone by the time the 2004 presidential campaign gets underway, thousands of U.S. troops still will be in Iraq. The price tag for both the war and the ''nation building'' that will follow this conflict will deepen the federal deficit and push the United States closer to a recession.
By the time voters go to the polls in the next presidential election, the question on the minds of many will be the one Ronald Reagan (news - web sites) used so effectively against Jimmy Carter in 1980: Are you better off today than you were four years ago? This is the fight that Democrats must wage -- and it is the one they have the best chance of winning, if they don't get bogged down in protesting a war they lack the power to stop.
''Democrats have to avoid being cast as obstructionists when it comes to war with Iraq,'' Gray said. ''They had their say last year, when the war resolution was before Congress -- and they lost that vote. If it happens, this will be Bush's war.''
He's right. The body bags and the price tag will all be the president's cross to bear.
Democrats shouldn't get in the way of Bush receiving the credit -- and the blame -- for the war he is so eager to wage with Iraq.
DeWayne Wickham writes a weekly column for USA TODAY. |
