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Republicans skeptical of Iraq attack on eve of impeachment voteWASHINGTON (AllPolitics, December 16) -- White House officials insist a looming impeachment vote in the House had no bearing on President Clinton's decision to bomb Iraq -- but planes were still in the air as a chorus of critics began voicing skepticism about the timing. In this story:
Prominent among the skeptics: Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Mississippi) and House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas). "I cannot support this military action in the Persian Gulf at this time," Lott said in a statement. "Both the timing and the policy are subject to question." "The suspicion some people have about the president's motives in this attack is itself a powerful argument for impeachment," Armey said in a statement. "After months of lies, the president has given millions of people around the world reason to doubt that he has sent Americans into battle for the right reasons." Armey renewed his call for the president to resign. "Whatever happens, it will take years to repair the damage President Clinton has done to his office and his country," Armey said.
Rep. Porter Goss, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he was unaware that U.S. airstrikes were planned against Iraq until he saw them under way on CNN. Goss (R-Florida) expressed anger that he was never notified by the White House that a strike was imminent and that no members of the House Intelligence Committee were brought into the loop. "To be cut out at the eleventh hour is annoying, and it's certainly not helpful," Goss said. He called the fact he was not contacted "a bad mistake of judgment or an oversight by the White House. ... Today the White House should be looking for friends. It's not a good idea to ambush people." "It's certainly rather suspicious timing," said Rep. Tillie Fowler (R-Florida). "I think the president is shameless in what he would do to stay in office."
Some Democrats reacted angrily to the criticism of Clinton's motives by congressional Republicans. Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-New Jersey) called the GOP reaction "as close to a betrayal of the interests of the United States as I've ever witnessed in the United States Congress. It's unforgivable and reprehensible." "This is a time for our country to be united, even though we're divided on other matters," said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota). He and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Missouri) issued a joint statement defending the timing, saying "any delay would have given (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein time to reconstitute his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and undermine international support for our efforts." A number of administration officials, including Secretary of Defense William Cohen, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, rejected the charge that the president's political problems were a motivating factor. Gen. Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, backed up that assessment. Some Republicans also were supportive of Clinton's actions. Outgoing House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Georgia) said the strikes were an example of "the U.S. leading the world by exercising its military power in an appropriate way." But some outside Congress wondered about the timing. Lawrence Eagleburger, who served as secretary of state during the Bush years, noted the proximity to the impeachment proceedings, saying, "While I approve the action, I think the timing stinks, frankly." Paul Weyrich, a leading conservative activist, said Clinton's decision to bomb on the eve of the impeachment vote "is more of an impeachable offense than anything he is being charged with in Congress." Clinton ordered what he called a "strong, sustained" military strike against Iraq on Wednesday in retaliation for its continued failure to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors. The decision came one day before the House was to meet to consider four articles of impeachment. charging Clinton with perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power in the Monica Lewinsky affair. Clinton has admitted the affair, but he has steadfastly denied he committed perjury. In the days and hours before the strike, the president's political situation deteriorated as a steady stream of undecided House members, most of them Republicans, announced they would support impeachment. House Speaker-elect Bob Livingston (R-Louisiana) later announced a delay in the impeachment debate, possibly until Friday or Saturday. The decision came after a caucus of House Republicans during which, Livingston indicated, there was a strong debate over whether to delay impeachment. Republican pollster Neil Newhouse said GOP leaders could lose the momentum for impeachment during a delay if pro-impeachment Republicans get skittish. "These guys are ready to vote but, truthfully, I don't know how much more pressure they can stand up to," Newhouse said.
The public expressions of skepticism accelerated when an angry Rep. Gerald Solomon (R-New York) issued a statement with the headline: "Bombs Away -- Save Impeachment for Another Day?" "It is obvious that they're (the Clinton White House) doing everything they can to postpone the vote on this impeachment in order to try to get whatever kind of leverage they can, and the American people ought to be as outraged as I am about it," Solomon said in an interview with CNN. Asked if he was accusing Clinton of playing with American lives for political expediency, Solomon said, "Whether he knows it or not, that's exactly what he's doing. When you put our troops in the air or on the ground, you are risking their lives. This president ought to know better. I don't know if he does or not, because he's so unpredictable." Solomon complained that key congressmen had not been told of the military strike. He said Clinton should have briefed more members of Congress and delayed the attack until early next week. "It would still be spontaneous," Solomon said. "He could still launch the attack, but it would not have been political the way it is today." Upon hearing Solomon's remarks, Democratic Rep. Sam Gejdenson of Connecticut went before CNN's cameras to rip into Solomon for his accusation. "Gerry Solomon's spent a career here making outrageous statements, but as an ex-Marine, he ought to know better," Gejdenson said. "That was an outrageous, outrageous statement." Gejdenson said the nation cannot tie a president's hands based on developments on Capitol Hill. "Think of the message," Gejdenson said. "If we tell every country out there that might want to do harm to America's interests that every time there's a political squabble in Washington, the presidency has to be frozen, that's outrageous." CNN's Bob Franken, Ann Curley and Ted Barrett and The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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MORE STORIES:Wednesday, December 16, 1998
• Clinton: Iraq has abused its final chance • Transcript: President Clinton explains Iraq strike • Impeachment debate delayed • How to contact undecided House members • Thousands say good-bye to Chiles • Presiding Rep. LaHood mum on his vote • Length of impeachment debate depends partly on Democrats • U.S. Rep. Shays holds town meeting on impeachment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
