Bush 'is on brink of catastrophe'
From Roland Watson in Washington

05/23/03: ( Times Online) THE most senior Republican authority on 
foreign relations in Congress has warned President Bush that the 
United States is on the brink of catastrophe in Iraq.  

Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, 
said that Washington was in danger of creating "an incubator for 
terrorist cells and activity" unless it increased the scope and cost 
of its reconstruction efforts. He said that more troops, billions 
more dollars and a longer commitment were needed if the US were not 
to throw away the peace.  

Mr Lugar's warning came as it emerged that the CIA has launched a 
review of its pre-war intelligence on Iraq to check if the US 
exaggerated the threats posed by Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass 
destruction. The review is intended to determine if the Pentagon 
manipulated the assessment of intelligence material for political ends.  

Democrats have begun to say that the US is in danger of jeopardising 
the success of the military action in Iraq, but Mr Lugar is by far the 
most senior Republican to break ranks with the White House over the 
issue. Mr Lugar, a moderate who expressed initial reservations about 
the war, said that the GovevrnmentAEs planning for post-war Iraq had 
clearly been inadequate.  

"I am concerned that the Bush Administration and Congress have not 
yet faced up to the true size of the task that lies ahead, or prepared 
the American people for it,oe he said, writing in The Washington Post. Mr 
Bush should state clearly "that we are engaged in 'nation-building'," he 
said, a statement that would require the President to swallow one of his 
tenets of the 2000 election campaign.  

Speaking derisively of President Clinton's foreign policy, Mr Bush 
said it was not the role of US troops to nation-build.  

Mr Lugar also took a swipe at Mr Bush's victory speech on the USS 
Abraham Lincoln earlier this month, delivered under a banner that 
read: "Mission Accomplished". He said: "President Bush should make 
clear to one and all that he will declare 'Mission Accomplished' in 
Iraq not on the basis of our military victory or the date of our 
withdrawal, but on what kind of country we leave behind."

It would be irresponsible, and contrary to USinterests, to walk away 
before Iraq was a dependable member of the world community.  

Mr Lugar's remarks are likely to infuriate the White House and the 
Pentagon. He criticised Pentagon officials for talking about "quick 
exit strategies", saying: "The days when Americans could win battles 
and then come home quickly for a parade are over."

The ability of the White House to fire back at Mr Lugar is limited. 
Mr Bush described him last week as "a fine, fine man", after being 
introduced by him at a speech in Indiana.  

Mr Lugar did not mention the withdrawal of Jay Garner, who was put in 
to run the initial stages of the rebuilding of post-war Iraq, and whose 
tenure is increasingly regarded as a disaster. But the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee is preparing to hold hearings to press the 
Administration on the shortcomings of plans for post-war Iraq, and 
to assess planning for the future.  

"I want to see evidence that the Administration is in this for the long 
haul to create a stable, democratic Iraq, and to acknowledge that this 
will place a significant burden on the American people," Mr Lugar said. 
He referred to estimates that the reconstruction of Iraq may cost $100  
billion, compared to the $2.5 billion approved by Congress so far.

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Source: Information Clearinghouse ...
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3508.htm


Cheers, Steve..

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