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Sun Feb 8 03:56:54 CST 2004

CHB Investigates. . . 
Role reversal: Bush wants war, Pentagon urges caution 
By DOUG THOMPSON 
Jan 22, 2003, 01:18 
 
Senior Pentagon officials are quietly
urging President George W. Bush to slow down his headlong rush to war
with Iraq, complaining the administration=92s course of action represents
too much of a shift of America=92s longstanding =93no first strike=94 policy
and that the move could well result in conflicts with other Arab
nations.&lt;?xml:namespace prefix =3D o ns =3D
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=93We have a dangerous role reversal here,=94 one Pentagon source tells
Capitol Hill Blue. =93The civilians are
urging war and the uniformed officers are urging caution.=94 
 
 
 
Capitol Hill Blue has learned the Joint
Chiefs of Staff are split over plans to invade &lt;?xml:namespace prefix
=3D st1 ns =3D &quot;urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags&quot;
/&gt;Iraq in the coming weeks. They have asked Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumseld to urge Bush to back down from his hard line stance until
United Nations weapons inspectors can finish their jobs and the U.S. can
build a stronger coalition in the Middle East. 
 
 
 
=93This is not Desert Storm,=94 one of the Joint Chiefs is reported to have
told Rumseld. =93We don=92t have the backing of other Middle Eastern nations=
.
We don=92t have the backing of any of our allies except Britain and we=92re
advocating a policy that says we will invade another nation that is not
currently attacking us or invading any of our allies.=94 
 
 
 
Intelligenced sources say some Arab nations have told US diplomats they
may side with Iraq if the U.S. attacks without the backing of the United
Nations. Secretary of State Colin Powell agrees with his former
colleagues at the Pentagon and has told the President he may be pursuing
a &quot;dangerous course.&quot; 
 
 
 
An angry Rumsfeld, who backs Bush without question, is said to have told
the Joint Chiefs to get in line or find other jobs. Bush is also said to
be =93extremely angry=94 at what he perceives as growing Pentagon opposition
to his role as Commander in Chief. 
 
 
 
=93The President considers this nation to be at war,=94 a White House source
says,=94 and, as such, considers any opposition to his policies to be no
less than an act of treason.=94 
 
 
 
But conversations with sources within the Bush administration, the
Pentagon, the FBI and the intelligence community indicate a deepening
rift between the professionals who wage war for a living and the
administration civilians to want to send them into battle. 
 
 
 
Sources say the White House has ordered the FBI and CIA to =93find and
document=94 links between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, the
mastermind of the 9-11 terrorist attacks. 
 
 
 
=93The implication is clear,=94 grumbles one longtime FBI agent. =93Find a
link, any link, no matter how vague or unproven, and then use that link
to justify action against Iraq.=94 
 
 
 
While Hussein and Iraq have been linked to various terrorist groups in
the past, U.S. intelligence agencies have not been able to establish a
provable link with bin Laden=92s al Qaeda forces. 
 
 
 
=93There may be one,=94 says another FBI source. =93There should be one. All
logic says there has to be one, but we haven=92t established it as a fact.
Not yet.=94 
 
 
 
Pentagon planners privately refer to the pending Iraq conflict as a =93Bush
league war,=94 something that may be fought more for political gain than
anything else. 
 
 
 
=93During Desert Storm, the line officers wanted to finish the job, wanted
to march into Iraq and take out Hussein and his government, but President
Bush and JOC Chairman (Colin) Powell pulled the plug on the operation,=94
says one Pentagon officer. =93We had our chance. We had the justification.
We had the support. We don=92t have it now.=94 
 
 
 
Some Pentagon staffers point to last weekend=92s antiwar rally in
Washington, where they say the&nbsp; crowd included many veterans of
Desert Storm. 
 
 
 
=93This wasn=92t just a bunch of tree huggers and longhairs marching,=94 say=
s
Arnold Giftos of Huntington, West Virginia, who served in Desert Storm
and who came to march. =93Go to any meeting of veterans groups in this
country and you will see serious discussion on whether or not we should
be getting into this war.=94 
 
 
 
Reporters covering the marches on Saturday and Sunday say they counted
about 500 marchers among the 30,000 who carried signs or other items
identifying themselves as veterans. 
 
 
 
=93I served in Vietnam,=94 said Robert Brighton of Detroit, who marched in
Washington. =93I supported Desert Storm. I don=92t support this. It=92s
madness.=94 
 
 
 
In addition, Capitol Hill Blue has
learned that both House Speaker Dennis J. Hastert and Senate Majority
Leader Bill Frist have told the White House that they have =93increasing=94
numbers of Republicans in both Houses raising doubts about the war. 
 
 
 
=93Nobody in the party wants to come out publicly and tell the President
he=92s wrong,=94 says one Hill source close to the GOP leadership, =93but we
don=92t have the kind of unity we need on this thing. It could blow apart
on us at any time.=94 
 
 
 
Public support for a war with Iraq is also slipping. In November of 2001,
just two months after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon,
78 percent of Americans favored military action against Iraq. That
support has slipped to as low as 52 percent in January polls. A
Washington Post-ABC news poll taken last week shows Americans evenly
split over Bush's handling of the crisis with Iraq. 
 
 
 
Spokesmen for the White House, Pentagon and Congressional leadership
offices would not comment on the record for this report. 
 
=A9 Copyright 2003 Capitol Hill Blue 
 
 
 
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