The New Republic

Mississippi Senator Trent Lott has never exactly distinguished
himself on matters of foreign policy. In his youth at Ole Miss he
evaded Vietnam with a military exemption--presumably his work as a
top member of the school's cheerleading squad made him invaluable
stateside. In his 30 years in Congress his expertise on military
affairs has rarely extended beyond clever schemes to siphon defense
dollars to shipbuilders in his home state. In 1999, along with Tom
DeLay, he led the isolationist wing of the Republican Party in
opposing intervention in Kosovo, arguing idiotically, "I think, as
Jesse Jackson would say, give peace a chance here." With the change
of administrations, however, Lott has undergone a dramatic change
of heart, transforming himself from berisolationist to berhawk.
Having made a fetish of the War Powers Act during Kosovo, he now
dismisses it as irrelevant. Last week he became the only member on
Capitol Hill to argue not only that there was no need for the
president to obtain congressional authority to invade Iraq but that
even debating the idea threatened national security. "You know, what
do they want us to say?" Lott lectured. "'Oh, Mr. Saddam Hussein,
we're coming. We're coming. Get ready. You can expect us, you know,
two weeks after Election Day. And by the way, here's the way we're
coming. But before we do that, we'll have a huge debate so you'll
know full well exactly what's going on.' Give me a break." Putting
aside the substantive case for President George W. Bush to seek new
congressional authority (it is highly dubious that the
post-September 11 resolution authorizing force against Al Qaeda
grants Bush the power to extend the war to Iraq), does Lott really
believe Saddam is currently ignorant of plans to topple his regime?
In fact, not even the Bush administration has yet criticized the
idea of a new congressional resolution or argued that Bush has all
the authority he requires to attack Iraq. Which is perhaps why a few
days later, on ABC's "This Week," Lott was in full retreat,
conceding there was nothing nefarious about debating a war
resolution, after all, and admitting that he would probably vote
for one. Perhaps the next time the Bush administration decides
there are certain arguments too laughable even for them, they'll
inform the Senate minority leader first.

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