Split wide open

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 th...

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 received from Vice-President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz 8212; a powerful triumvirate frequently at odds with Secretary of State Colin Powell 8212; has been wrong and even dangerous to long-term US national interests.

Citing past public statements by Cheney and others about the prospective ease with which the Iraq war could be won and the warm welcome US forces would receive from the Iraqi people, one former GOP appointee said he and his allies were looking at 8216;8216;whether this President has learned something from this advice he has been getting.8217;8217;

Other Republicans and administration officials also expressed concern that the Iraq war plan was based on faulty assumptions that the Iraqi government would collapse. And some officials, especially in the State Department, fear that post-war diplomacy, if handled poorly, could further estrange the nation from allies and international institutions.

There is criticism of Powell, among some groups, for failing to combat some of the assumptions about the war with Iraq more forcefully. Administration officials insist there is unity among Bush8217;s senior advisers. But they also acknowledge that disputes among senior Cabinet officials are never really settled.

During a Saturday teleconference with his senior advisers, Bush endorsed Rumsfeld8217;s desire to prepare for an advance on the Republican Guard around Baghdad. 8216;8216;The President has demonstrated strong leadership and has the unified support of his whole team,8217;8217; a senior defence official said. The official added that any suggestion of division 8216;8216;plays into the hands of Baghdad8217;s propaganda.8217;8217; A spokeswoman for Cheney declined comment.

Powell distanced himself from those questioning the war plan and the administration8217;s unity. 8216;8216;I have full confidence in the plan and in the commanders executing it.8217;8217; A subtext of the debate, expressed by people sympathetic to Powell, is that the Secretary of State more closely reflects the internationalism of Bush8217;s father, who assembled a broad coalition to oust Iraq from Kuwait. The former president, in an interview to Newsweek, twice defended Powell. 8216;8216;I hate criticism of Colin Powell from any quarter,8217;8217; he said.

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Some former and current officials viewed the remarks as a message to Powell8217;s opponents. Last summer, some within the group of former GOP officials advocated going to the UN for confronting Iraq rather than moving unilaterally. Bush decided to try to obtain UN backing 8212; a course Powell favoured 8212; after his father8217;s national security adviser, Brent Scowcroft, and secretary of state, James A. Baker III, supported that approach. Administration officials said Bush always intended to go to the UN and was not influenced by his father8217;s former aides.

Powell is regarded as a seasoned infighter who appears to emerge unscathed even when he doesn8217;t win 8212; a quality they attribute to media manipulation and careful attention to his public image. He retains close contact with the uniformed military, who often are in conflict with Rumsfeld. Many officials suspect that Powell wields influence through this back channel.

8216;8216;Rumsfeld wants to put the 8216;Powell Doctrine8217; into obsolescence,8217;8217; the Bush adviser said. The doctrine calls for decisive force to ensure success.

A senior State Department official said Powell did not recommend a larger force. Indeed, he publicly denied that the plan fails to live up to the Powell Doctrine. Yet, he distanced himself from the assurances of victory and offered his interpretation of the military campaign.

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The day that Lieutenant General William Wallace was quoted as saying US forces had faced unexpected problems 8212; remarks that infuriated White House officials 8212; Powell said: 8216;8216;I have absolute confidence in the commanders who are running this war. 8230; And I know it. I trained them.8217;8217; LAT-WP