Despite winning the Nov. 7 elections largely due to public anger over the Iraq War, congressional Democrats crumbled in their first post-election confrontation with President George W. Bush on the future direction of that conflict.
Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee floundered though inept questioning of former CIA Director Robert M. Gates, Bush's new choice for Defense Secretary, failing to nail down the nominee's precise thinking on any aspect of the war strategy or even to secure a guarantee that the Pentagon would turn over documents for future oversight hearings.
Among many gaps in the questioning, the Democrats didn't press Gates on whether he shared the neoconservative vision of violently remaking the Middle East, whether he endorsed the Military Commissions Act's elimination of habeas corpus rights to fair trials, whether he supports warrantless eavesdropping by the Pentagon's National Security Agency, whether he agrees with Bush's claim of "plenary" – or unlimited – powers as a Commander in Chief who can override laws and the U.S. Constitution.
When Gates did stake out substantive positions, he almost invariably lined up with Bush's "stay-until-victory" plan in Iraq. Though insisting that "all the options are on the table," Gates rejected any timetable for military withdrawal as some Democrats have recommended. He also echoed Bush's argument that an American pullout would lead to a regional cataclysm.
Instead, Gates advocated an open-ended U.S. military presence in Iraq. "We are still going to have to have some level of American support there for the Iraqi military and that could take quite some time," Gates said.
Democrats couldn't even get a commitment from Gates to turn over Pentagon documents for congressional oversight. Gates qualified his answer with phrases such as "to the limits of my authority" – suggesting that the Bush administration might well resist demands from Congress for sensitive papers about the war – and that Gates wouldn't interfere.
Though much of the news media's attention at the hearing focused on Gates's concession that the United States wasn't "winning" the war in Iraq, that admission was made in the context of Gates agreeing with assessments from Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Republican committee chairman John Warner.
Yet, because Gates offered some bromides about his "fresh eyes" and his determination not to be "a bump on a log," the Democratic senators praised his "candor," hailed the principle of "bipartisanship," and joined with their Republican counterparts in endorsing Gates's nomination on a 21-0 vote.
The unanimous Senate Armed Services Committee vote ensures that Bush will get his new Defense Secretary without giving any significant ground to the Democrats about the Iraq War or anything else.
In turn, Gates's confirmation buys Bush at least several months to continue his Iraq War policies without appreciable interference. Some Democrats have talked about holding free-standing hearings on the war once they take over in 2007, but the Democrats now will have little leverage to compel meaningful administration cooperation.
So, when it finally becomes apparent that Gates is presiding over a continuation of Bush's war strategy, Bush will be that much closer to the end of his term. Democrats can then justify further inaction because of the impending 2008 presidential campaign.
In the meantime, hundreds of more American soldiers and tens of thousands more Iraqis will be dead – and anti-American hatred will have spread and deepened throughout the Islamic world.
The Rumsfeld Irony
Ironically, Bush got his free pass on Gates because the Democrats were desperate for the removal of Defense Secretary Donald Rumfeld, but the surprising switch to Gates on Nov. 8 coincided with Rumsfeld finally calling for a "major adjustment" in Iraq War strategy.
In a Nov. 6 memorandum – just two days before Bush ousted him – Rumsfeld proposed a troop pullback plan similar to one recommended by Democratic Rep. John Murtha to "withdraw U.S. forces from vulnerable positions" to safe areas of Iraq or to Kuwait. Rumsfeld also suggested "an accelerated drawdown of U.S. bases from 55 now to 10 to 15 by April 2007 and to five by July 2007."
What's less clear is whether Rumsfeld's "going wobbly" on the Iraq War influenced Bush's decision to remove him. Bush had publicly declared his intention of keeping Rumsfeld at the Pentagon, but Bush suddenly reversed course and approached Gates while Rumsfeld was preparing his memo
Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories in the 1980s for the Associated Press and Newsweek. His latest book, Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq, can be ordered at secrecyandprivilege.com. It's also available at
Amazon.com, as is his 1999 book, Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & 'Project Truth.'
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