Anti-war GOP emboldened

The clearest sign that the war hasn't gone according to plan? Bush's advisers are myred in a virtual civil war -- with the anti-war camp suddenly emboldened to challenge the administration's Chickenhawk Brigade.

The first 11 days of the war have brought back with a vengeance the deep splits that have long existed within the Bush administration and the Republican Party over policy toward Iraq.

Already there is a behind-the-scenes effort by former senior Republican government officials and party leaders to convince President Bush that the advice he has received from Vice President Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz -- a powerful triumvirate frequently at odds with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell -- has been wrong and even dangerous to long-term U.S. national interests.

It's a fascinating read.

Powell has apparently stayed out of this new fray, broken and thoroughly subservient to the Dark Side. Still, he did take this delicious jab at Wolfowitz:

Powell also made a comment that was widely interpreted in official Washington as a jab at Wolfowitz, a frequent nemesis who did not serve in the military.

"When war comes, that's [casualties] the price that has to be paid," Powell said on NPR. "And it's paid not by intellectuals but by wonderful young Americans who serve their country and believe in the cause for which they are serving."

Posted March 31, 2003 08:58 AM | Comments (138)