Critics Charge Bush's Iraq War Plan Linked to Congressional November Elections

Interview with John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine,conducted by Scott Harris

The White House campaign to garner public support for a new war against Iraq, launched during the summer, quickly overshadowed most other domestic and foreign policy issues facing the U.S. The call for war has effectively pushed coverage of the sputtering economy and corporate crime scandals off the front pages of newspapers and to the margins of TV news shows. Statements made earlier this year by White House political director Karl Rove indicate that the Bush Administration's demand for war is very much connected to this November's important midterm congressional election, where control of the closely divided House and Senate are at stake.

The White House is now working hard to secure both U.N. and congressional resolutions authorizing the automatic use of force if Iraq fails to fully cooperate with international weapons inspectors. But Baghdad's recent offer to allow inspectors back into Iraq without pre-condition has slowed down the march to war. The election victory of the Social Democratic-Green Party coalition in Germany -- a battle largely fought and won over opposition to U.S. Iraq war plans -- has also complicated the president's hope for wider international support.

By and large Democratic Party leaders have supported the Bush plan to invade Iraq. But former vice president and White House candidate Al Gore surprised many when in a Sept. 23rd speech, he criticized the Bush Iraq policy for weakening the U.S. fight against terrorism and undermining international law. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with John Nichols, Washington correspondent with the Nation Magazine, who examines what he believes are the strategic political calculations behind the White House drive to launch a new U.S. war against Iraq.

Read John Nichols' articles in the pages of The Nation magazine or online at www.thenation.com
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