Rockefeller: Bush decided 'long time ago' to go to war

America will declare war against Iraq regardless of how the United Nations Security Council votes, Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

By: Jessica Shifflett, Register-Herald Reporter

Rockefeller, who returned to the country Saturday following a week-long visit to Pakistan, Kuwait and Afghanistan, said based on private conversations he's had with President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and others in the administration, he believes war with Iraq is inevitable.

"I think the president has made up his mind, and whether we get the votes or don't get the votes, I think we're going to go to war," the senator said, adding Bush "made up his mind a long time ago ..."

Rockefeller said he's convinced that internationally the "tide is turning against" the U.S., partly because of what Rockefeller called a certain "bravado" in Bush's overseas policies.

"It's sort of a coming together of years of resentment about the United States as now the only world super power," he said.

"The president has put forth a ... pre-emptive philosophy (that the U.S. can) spread democracy and freedom wherever we want.

"It plays very badly out there. They think we're arrogant," the senator said.

Rockefeller said although he would support the U.S. in a time of war and offered support to troops already in the Gulf, he was critical of Bush's policies on diplomacy.

So far, Great Britain, Spain and Bulgaria are the only other countries on the 15-member Security Council expressing support for a U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Germany, France, Russia and China have expressed strong disapproval.

Rockefeller said the support of other countries is necessary to fight a successful war against Iraq and terrorist groups, including al-Qaida.

Leaders of Islamic countries who choose to offer aid to the United States are quietly walking a political tightrope because most of their citizens are anti-American, Rockefeller said.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who recently aided the U.S. in taking 483 al-Qaida members out of circulation, is one such leader, the senator added.

"He has to toe the line because so many of his people are against (supporting the United States)," Rockefeller said.

"He is doing about as well as he could possibly do, and he is taking risks - believe me, he is taking risks."

Anti-Israel sentiment is also strong in Islamic countries, Rockefeller reported.

"Every single person we talked to in those countries (mentioned Israel)," he said.

Regarding a U.S. invasion of Iraq, Middle Eastern opposition is two-tiered, the senator reported.

"Their public position is, they're not for it," he said. "Privately, they despise (Saddam Hussein), and they fear (Saddam Hussein) and they fear what they know he has in chemical and biological weapons.

"So they have to be careful."

Rockefeller said based on what they've seen on CNN and FOXNews, U.S. troops he spoke with expressed a collective belief the world does not support their cause in the Middle East.

"I was very unhappy about the effects the protests around the world had on our soldiers," he said. "In one of the meetings I asked everyone who thought Americans were behind them to raise their hand. Nobody did."

He said he was also concerned that being stuck in the Gulf for so long during diplomatic efforts could have an adverse effect on the troops.

"There is kind of a point where troops, no matter what service, they build a certain edge, a cutting edge when you peak to that edge.

"If there's going to be a war, you want them going into battle with that edge. That is one problem of stretching out of the diplomatic process (for too long a time period)."

Rockefeller praised the American troops, adding he told them many people in the United States support them.

©The Register-Herald 2003

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