LOS ANGELES, 17 December 2003 — Howard Dean on Monday stood by his criticism of the war with Iraq, hailing the capture of Saddam Hussein but saying the arrest of the former dictator failed to make America safer and did not justify an attack launched “in the wrong way at the wrong time.”
Dean’s statements before a public affairs group in Los Angeles drew stinging rejoinders from rivals in the Democratic presidential contest, who have struggled to slow his momentum and hope his opposition to the war now could cause him more political harm than good.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut suggested the former Vermont governor had “climbed into his own spider hole of denial.” Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts said Dean’s comments showed he lacked the leadership skills and temperament to be president. Rep. Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri assailed Dean for having faulted others — such as himself, Kerry and Lieberman — who supported the congressional resolution that authorized the invasion.
The back-and-forth came on a campaign day devoted to foreign policy, with both Dean and Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina delivering speeches calling for steps to fight international terrorism, mend fractured ties with US allies and stem the international threat from weapons of mass destruction. “We should be exercising every option we have to stop the spread of deadly weapons before war becomes our only option,” Edwards said in a speech in Des Moines, Iowa.
But the capture of Saddam and the larger question of whether the war with Iraq was justified dominated the long-distance debate, much as it has throughout the Democratic campaign.
Dean, whose rise to front-runner status was fueled in good part by his staunch antiwar stance, on Sunday had offered brief remarks following Saddam’s capture, mainly lauding the efforts of US troops.
But on Monday, appearing before the Pacific Council on International Policy, he countered speculation that the arrest could undercut his candidacy by repeating his opposition to President Bush’s Iraqi policy.
“My position on the war in Iraq has not changed,” Dean said moments into his 37-minute speech. “The difficulties and the tragedies which we have faced in Iraq show the administration launched the war in the wrong way at the wrong time with inadequate planning, insufficient help and at the extraordinary cost, so far, of $166 billion.”
In contrast to his fiery delivery on the campaign trail, Dean was subdued as he spoke and the nonpartisan audience responded in kind, with polite applause at the beginning and the end of his remarks but none of the enthusiasm typical of more partisan crowds.
While describing the capture of Saddam as “a good thing,” Dean said the arrest “has not made America safer.” He said the biggest threat to US security is the prospect of another attack by Al-Qaeda terrorists and their sympathizers, as well as the danger of weapons of mass destruction falling into the wrong hands. Fighting those twin threats, Dean said, would be his top global priorities if elected president.
Although Dean’s speech had been in the works for weeks, it was clearly influenced by the weekend’s dramatic events. The text was reworked several times after Saddam’s arrest, and Dean returned to the subject repeatedly during his appearance in Los Angeles.
At one point, he described Saddam as “a frightful person” and said he was “delighted ... he was gone.” But, Dean continued, “There are many frightful people in the world, all of whom undoubtedly we would be better off without.”
Almost all of the other Democratic presidential candidates made a point of responding to Dean’s remarks, sensing that Saddam’s capture — and the public’s reaction to it — could alter the dynamics of the nomination race.
Lieberman, the most fervent supporter of the war among the Democratic candidates, was especially harsh in his response to Dean’s remarks.
Calling Saddam a “homicidal maniac,” “a brutal dictator” and “a supporter of terrorism,” Lieberman said in a conference call with reporters that if Dean “truly believes that the capture of this evil man has not made America safer, then Howard Dean has put himself in his own spider hole of denial.”
He added: “I fear that the American people will wonder if they will be safer with him as president.”
