Criticism of Iraq policy seen hurting U.S. troop morale

Rep. Mike Pence says he has seen firsthand how the back-and-forth charges in Washington over U.S. policy in Iraq are affecting troop morale there.

Mr. Pence, Indiana Republican, visited with Marines at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda this week. He was struck by one injured sergeant’s worry that the United States would succumb to criticism and pull its troops out with the job undone.

“He looked me in the eye, with tubes coming out, and he simply said, ‘Congressman, the only thing I worry about is that we will pull out early and we will not finish the job and it will mean all of the sacrifices we made over there were for nothing,’” the Indiana Republican recalled.

“I think [the criticism] is reaching these guys, from what they’re telling me.”

Since the end of major combat in Iraq, the Bush administration has faced questions about the intelligence the president cited in pressing his case for war. But Republicans say the criticism is politically driven and risks undermining U.S. policy.

Rep. J.D. Hayworth, Arizona Republican, said one of the recent audio messages apparently from Saddam Hussein, in which the former Iraqi president said Mr. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair had based their case for war on “lies,” sounded like some of the statements from opponents of the U.S. leader.

“That particular construction sounds eerily familiar,” he said. “It sounds like Democratic National Committee talking points. There’s just no way of getting around that. It’s as if Saddam has picked up on the level of criticism in this country.”

Republicans said they fear Saddam’s loyalists will conclude that they can wait until the U.S. commitment fades, and then return to power.

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell on Tuesday addressed the issue with editors and reporters from The Washington Times, saying pro-Saddam holdouts may be getting a boost “to the extent that they believe Blair and President Bush have been weakened in some way.”

A senior administration official said yesterday that the political wrangling back home “is certainly not positive” for U.S. forces in Iraq.

“Powell’s gone out and laid down a marker,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “I’m going to let the secretary’s words speak for themselves.”

Democrats defended their questions, saying that once the decision to go to war was made they have remained staunch in their support of the troops and the rebuilding effort in Iraq.

In a phone interview with reporters on Monday, Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts said that when he had been a soldier in Vietnam, he and other soldiers “wanted people to know the truth” about what was happening.

“I think I’m speaking for the troops,” he said.

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