A White House divided against itself cannot stand – Part II

Yesterday I mentioned the Hatfield-McCoy like relations between the State and Defense Departments in the Bush administration. Today’s papers have ample evidence that the infighting and bickering among Republicans, inside the White House and out, is getting worse, not better.

One conservative Republican political strategist told the New York Times yesterday, “I don’t understand what is floating [Bush’s] ship except patriotism and terrorism concerns. If the tide turns, there’s nothing else that keeps his boat afloat. There’s a sort of feeling out there of, ‘Where is this thing going?’ We were all happy to follow President Bush into this, but we’re now starting to look up at the hillside and wondering who’s up there.”

A veteran Washington Republican strategist said it was “obvious that the Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz battle plans are not panning out.” The strategist also noted that administration promises of Iraqis greeting our forces as “liberators” and welcoming our forced removal of Hussein are also not coming to fruition, adding, “Where are the flowers being thrown at our forces? Where are the peace signs?”

Criticisms of the president from Democrats are expected, and as such, are widely dismissed by the media. But these interviews reflect that the GOP is hardly united behind Bush, or at a minimum, behind the men Bush chose to orchestrate the war in Iraq.

While these quotes reflect concerns among Republicans in Washington over the political aspects of the war, there is also increasing apprehension from military leaders about Bush’s approach.

One retired general who served in the first war against Iraq explained that our initial difficulties in Iraq undermine a central goal of the mission: deterring others in the Middle East by flexing our military muscle.

“What’s troublesome is the loss of deterrent value,” the retired general said. “A month ago everybody in the world looked at the U.S. military as being 10 feet tall. We’re not 10 feet tall.”

That’s mild compared to some of the other remarks reported today from former and current officials in the U.S. military, some of whom believe Rumsfeld intentionally limited the size of the troop deployment to prove some broader ideological point about how the military can win with a leaner fighting force.

An active colonel criticized Rumsfeld for limiting initial deployments. “He wanted to fight this war on the cheap,” the colonel said. “He got what he wanted.”

The feud between Defense and State, meanwhile, also continued yesterday. The State Department had crafted a proposal to govern post-war Iraq with U.S. civilian leaders, several ambassadors to Arab states, and ultimately shifting power to the United Nations to build international support and offer legitimacy to the new power structure.

Rumsfeld, of course, decided he didn’t like the proposal and rejected the State Department’s outline. Several sources told the Washington Post the move was part of an effort to “ensure the Pentagon controls every aspect of reconstructing” Iraq.

The article explains that Rumsfeld (backed by Cheney and Wolfowitz) has a plan of his own and it doesn’t fit in with Powell’s plan at State. As Rumsfeld sees it, “the military would maintain control of Iraq for an indefinite period,” until new Iraqi institutions were prepared to govern. The plan would allow the U.N. to participate in offering humanitarian aid — under U.S. supervision — but have no role in shaping the new government.

One official told the Post, “We’ve been told there is a big disagreement between State and Defense over who controls the personnel” in terms of reconstructing Iraq. That sounds like the understatement of the day. The Post then noted the obvious: “Divisions between the State and Defense departments have marked virtually every phase of Iraq policy.”

If only we had a leader who could guide his own administration and direct these factions within his own camp toward coherent government policies, these fissures would not be so serious. But under the circumstances, they are very serious. I keep hoping Bush will exercise his authority, right this ship, and end the divisions that are undermining his administration. So far, for whatever reason, he hasn’t.