A week full of bad news for President Bush has given Democrats a political opportunity in the debate over how to handle the Iraq war, party leaders said.
“The events of this week give us a pivot point to step up our criticism of the administration,” said Jim Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat.
Controversy over substandard care for injured war veterans reached a fever pitch, and I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr., Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice.
U.S. attorneys testified before Congress that they were fired for political reasons, and the House Judiciary Committee has asked to interview White House officials about the matter.
Separately, the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General said in a report that the FBI had abused the USA Patriot Act’s provisions by obtaining individuals’ private records without their knowledge.
Sen. Richard J. Durbin, Illinois Democrat, said the events last week will ensure that Mr. Bush “continues to lose support from the American people.”
“I don’t think those events will change our strategy, but I do think they have had a negative impact on the president’s approval ratings,” said Mr. Durbin, the second-highest ranking Democrat in the Senate.
White House spokesman Tony Snow sidestepped a question last week about how the public will respond to the bad news and how that reaction will affect the president’s current strategy to send more troops to Iraq.
Mr. Snow instead talked about how Congress should respond to the president’s request for war funding that will enable the surge of 25,900 U.S. troops to Iraq. In Uruguay yesterday, officials traveling with Mr. Bush said the request would also boost U.S. troops in Afghanistan by an additional 4,000.
“There are always going to be political controversies, but there is also always going to be the necessity of doing the nation’s business. And especially on issues this important, members of Congress have the ability to focus, and they will,” Mr. Snow said.
For weeks, Democrats have searched for a way to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq without cutting off funds for those in the field and without restricting the president’s powers as commander in chief.
The most recent House proposal would withdraw all troops from Iraq by no later than fall 2008 while also fully funding Mr. Bush’s $95 billion supplemental request for the war.
Mr. Bush, who is in Latin America as part of a weeklong diplomatic effort in that region, has said critics should wait to see if the troop surge will be effective. The president said early signs indicate the new strategy to secure Baghdad and give the Iraqi government “breathing space” is working.
A senior White House official also said privately that regular briefings by the new military commander in Iraq, Army Gen. David Petraeus, will “change the dynamic” of how the public views the war.
But there was plenty of bad news in Iraq last week. Suicide bombers killed 340 Shi’ite pilgrims in or near Karbala, the Associated Press reported, and nine U.S. soldiers were killed in attacks on Monday.
Democratic leaders said they think the White House has been weakened by the bevy of negative developments.
“Certainly it doesn’t strengthen the White House’s hand in dealing with America,” said House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat.
Anti-war group organizers were even more optimistic.
“This week will be looked at as a consolidation point against the Bush administration,” said Tom Matzzie, Washington director for MoveOn.org, a liberal advocacy group.
Mr. Snow criticized what he called “throwing unrelated stories in the same pot.”
“I think there has been an attempt to try to use this as a great big wheelbarrow in which to dump a whole series of unrelated issues and say, ‘Ah-ha,’ ” he said.
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