Kennedy Criticizes Bush's Postwar Policy

Democratic Senator Blasts Use of 'Shoddy Intelligence'

Senator Edward M. Kennedy today methodically laid out a broad criticism of President Bush's postwar Iraq policy, taking the administration to task for everything from the misuse of intelligence to the failure to internationalize the Iraqi rebuilding effort.

In a speech at the Johns Hopkins University School of Applied International Studies (SAIS), the Massachusetts Democrat accused the administration of undermining "America's prestige and credibility in the world" and "the trust that Americans should and must have in what their nation tells them."

"It's a disgrace that the case for war seems to have been based on shoddy intelligence, hyped intelligence, and even false intelligence," Kennedy said.

Kennedy told the audience he believed there was no doubt the United States would win the war, but he chastised the administration and the Pentagon specifically for miscalculating what it would take to secure the peace. "American troops are now serving as police officers in a shooting gallery," he said.

Since Bush declared on May 1 that hostilities in Iraq had ceased, 32 U.S. soldiers have been killed in attacks on occupying troops.

Kennedy said that the original postwar plan, scrapped when retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner was removed and replaced with former ambassador L. Paul Bremer, was flawed. Yet he said that the new policy was being made up on the spot and was not well thought out enough to stabilize Iraq and provide much needed services to the Iraqi people.

"There is egg on the face of the administration and its peace plan from day one," Kennedy said. "Cynicism and anger [among Iraqis] toward America is growing."

Kennedy also criticized the administration's "unilateral nation building" and its failure to include allies and international organizations such as the United Nations in Iraqi peacekeeping and rebuilding.

"As we seek to stabilize and democratize Iraq, we do not need to go it alone and should not try to," Kennedy said. However, he said the administration seems unwilling to mend fences with allies such as France and Germany who opposed the war. "America cannot be effective if old wounds don't heal and bitterness continues to fester."

Kennedy called for a more diverse security force that draws on many nations -- including Muslim countries -- to belie the impression of a U.S. occupation. He said such a coalition would be more likely if the occupation force was under the auspices of the United Nations or NATO.

"Instead of asking our armed forces to carry out a mission for which they are not trained," he said, "we need to rely on the expertise and resources of the international community."

Last fall, Kennedy delivered a speech at SAIS urging the administration not to go to war with Iraq so readily. That speech helped galvanize the small congressional opposition to war prior to the invasion of Iraq that quickly ousted Saddam Hussein from power.

During last October's Senate debate on the resolution authorizing the president to use force, Kennedy said "resorting to war is not America's only or best course." He urged the Bush administration to find alternatives to military action: "War should be a last resort, not the first response."

Kennedy was one of 23 senators to vote against authorizing President Bush to use military force, if necessary, to disarm Iraq.