JB

Terry Neal's column in the Washington Post describes the contortions that pro-War Democrats like Kerry, Edwards, and Gephardt have been going through as the country becomes more and more fed up with the Administration's misleading justifications for the war, the failure to find weapons of mass destruction, the mounting costs of occupation and the prospect of fighting what looks to be a protracted guerrilla war:

Simply put, with anger among the party's base off the charts about the basis for going to war, the pro- war candidates can't afford to not challenge the president.

Many grass-roots Democrats were questioning the administration's assertions about the threat posed by Iraq long before the White House acknowledged last week that it should not have included the Iraq nuclear assertion in the president's State of the Union speech. War opponents questioned the administration's claims about Hussein's links to al Qaeda, Iraq's ability to launch a quick strike against U.S. allies in the region and the Iraqi government's alleged attempts to purchase high-strength aluminum tubes to be used as centrifuges for enrich uranium. . . .

But the pro-war Democrats can't backtrack too far. In choosing to support Bush last fall, the four candidates decided to accept the administration's reasoning over the doubts of many in the party. To switch gears now would be to acknowledge that they should not have done so.

With Vermont Gov. Howard Dean surging, it's clear that he is being rewarded at least in part for his consistent stance against the war. In forums in Iowa and New Hampshire, the war issue has become an even hotter topic in recent weeks, with voters pressing some of the pro-war candidates to reconcile the growing doubts about a key reason for going to war with their votes on the matter.

Therefore any Democrat (and indeed any Republican) who voted for the war on the President's assurances that Iraq was a threat should be given the opportunity to say: I was wrong and the President misled the country. There is no shame in having been deceived by a bad leader. There is only shame in refusing to admit your mistake and failing to have the courage to denounce bad leadership that is harming the country.

Nevertheless, we did invade Iraq, and we have taken over the country, and so Democrats who supported the war and Democrats who opposed it must stand for a just solution in Iraq. That means spending the money necessary to put the country back on its feet. It also means coming out strongly for a multilateral approach to the reconstruction of Iraq. And thus, it also means going to the United Nations and securing a resolution that allows countries who opposed us on the war to help us in cleaning up the mess that the Administration has created. We will have to swallow our pride a little bit, but not very much. For once Bush and company are out of the White House, I suspect that for most countries in the world-- and particularly France and Germany-- it will be back to business as usual. They can distinguish between a foolish Administration and the United States of America. Bush has lost credibility around the world, but members of a party not tainted with his dishonesty can repair the mess he has created.

So the Democratic position can be stated clearly and simply:

(1) Bush is a bad leader who got us into an unnecessary war, deceived the public, and is mangling the occupation.

(2) We are in Iraq for the long haul and let's make the best of it. We cannot abandon the Iraqi people and we should try to live up to our own ideals.

(3) We need the support of the international community to succeed.

(4) As long as Bush is in the White House, things will only get worse, because the rest of the world does not trust him or his Administration, and he has lost credibility with the very people we need most.

(5) Only the Democrats have the credibility with the rest of the world to succeed in Iraq. They have a long history of support for internationalism. They are the party best suited to succeed given our current position.

Finally, the Democrats should point out that the war in Iraq has proved to be a distraction from the War on Terrorism, and, indeed, if the weapons of mass destruction are now missing because they were looted and fell into the hands of terrorists, then the war has been not only a distraction but a serious setback. The United States should recommit itself to winning the war on terror, by making necessary investments in homeland security (which were actually left out of Bush's budget), by increasing support for military personnel (also, amazingly cut out of Bush's budget). The more the American people learn about how little the Administration really has invested in combatting terrorism, the better the Democrats should look; Democrats have a long history of supporting investments in infrastructure necessary for government to achieve its goals; they can and should argue in the spirit of that tradition of wise government investment that we need to spend the money necessary to make our country safe.

If Kerry and the other pro-war Democrats would simply admit that they made a mistake, they would actually have a much stronger position on foreign policy than the Administration does. They would be standing for something-- internationalism, a just solution in Iraq, and a renewed recommitment to winning the War on Terrorism-- rather than simply complaining.