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Politics : WHO IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT IN 2004 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: calgal who wrote (7744)	12/17/2003 10:55:46 PM
From: calgal	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10965

Democrats Maintain Iraq Criticism Despite Hussein's Capture, Opponents Keep Pressure on Bush Policies Compiled From Wire Reports Monday, December 15, 2003; 3:27 PM Anti-war Democrat Howard Dean said the capture of Saddam Hussein doesn't alter his opposition to President Bush's policies on Iraq as he outlined plans to repair alliances, bolster U.S. forces and fight "catastrophic terrorism" carried out by weapons of mass destruction. "The capture of Saddam Hussein hasn't made America safer," the former Vermont governor said in direct contradiction of Bush. In a campaign speech in Los Angeles, Dean outlined what he called the "Dean doctrine," which he characterized as a "very clear prescription" for when the United States should use force unilaterally. Those occasions were: to defend the country, to stop an imminent threat and, in some instances, when world bodies failed to resolve problems like genocide in Bosnia and Kosovo. Dean and two other Democratic presidential candidates delivered speeches that sought to pivot from Hussein's capture to new ground for criticizing the Republicans' foreign policies. Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina and Wesley Clark joined Dean in saying Hussein's capture gives the United States a chance to correct the course in Iraq. Capitalizing on the powers of incumbency, Bush overshadowed his rivals' criticism with a hastily arranged news conference in which he discussed Hussein's capture and dismissed questions about his 2004 re-election campaign. "There will be plenty of time for politics" after the turn of the year, he said. Bush called it an "absurd insinuation" to raise questions, as Dean did recently, about whether the president had advance knowledge of the Sept. 11 attacks. The capture posed a special problem for front-runner Dean, whose candidacy has been fueled by his opposition to the war. Many supporters saw his defiance of Bush on Iraq as emblematic of his willingness to stand up to Bush while other Democrats fell in line behind the Republican president. Dean did not back away from his opposition to the war, but he sought in many ways to ease concerns about his thin foreign policy credentials. "Let me be clear: My position on the war has not changed," Dean said in an address to the Pacific Council in Los Angeles. "The difficulties and tragedies we have faced in Iraq show that the administration launched the war in the wrong way, at the wrong time, with inadequate planning, insufficient help, and at unbelievable cost," the former Vermont governor said. "An administration prepared to work with others in true partnership might have been able, if it found no alternative to Hussein's ouster, to then rebuild Iraq with far less cost and risk." Edwards, who supported the Bush-backed congressional war resolution, zeroed in on what he said is a greater threat than any posed by Hussein: the spread of weapons of mass destruction. "It was great news for the Iraqi people, the world, and the United States that Saddam Hussein was captured. But that alone is no substitute for a comprehensive strategy to deal with the world's most dangerous weapons, no matter how welcome the news," Edwards said in a text of his address in Iowa, site of the Jan. 19 caucuses. Clark, speaking from The Hague where he testified in the U.N. war crimes trial of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, said Saddam's capture "doesn't change the challenge we face there. The war is not over." He called on Bush to work more closely with U.S. allies, particularly NATO, to fight terrorism. "Iraq is still in danger of becoming a failed state," Clark said in a text of his address. "A failed state would be a stunning success for al Qaeda." washingtonpost.com