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August 19, 2002 9:00 a.m. The Case He’s Making Why do the president’s critics say he hasn’t “made the case” for war in Iraq?

as George W. Bush "made the case" for U.S. military action against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein? The consensus among the president's opponents — and even among some of his friends — is that he has not.

"The president has to make the case to Congress and the people, and that has not been done," House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt told reporters while making the political rounds in Iowa recently. "It's not enough to say that [Saddam] is just part of the axis of evil," added Senator Joseph Lieberman. "He's got to make that case to the American people." And on Friday the New York Times reported that "leading Republicans" in Congress and the State Department, as well as veterans from the first Bush administration, have "begun to break ranks" with the president, in part because he has not "made the case" for taking out Saddam.

The charge has been repeated so often that it has become the conventional wisdom in Washington. But it ignores the fact that in recent months President Bush and top White House aides have repeatedly explained the need for action against Saddam. Bush talked about it with reporters in Crawford, Texas last week. Vice President Dick Cheney talked about it in San Francisco before that. And National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice recently laid out the reasons for removing Saddam in an interview with the BBC. Before that, each of them, plus Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other administration officials, addressed the issue dozens of times.

None of those statements were formal declarations of American intent on Iraq. Should Bush decide to take military action, he will undoubtedly decide to present more details to Congress and the public — on Sunday, White House adviser Dan Bartlett said that if Bush decides to go forward, "he will do so in a way that will clearly be articulated to the American people." But it seems unlikely that the reasons the president will give for American action in Iraq will differ greatly from the reasons he has cited over and over again since September 11. Anyone expecting a long list of new reasons will likely be disappointed.

More importantly, it appears that much of the American public, unlike the political elites who are criticizing the president, has already gotten the message. A little-noticed Gallup poll released last week showed that most Americans not only favor military action against Iraq — a result also found by other polls — but that they have a clear idea of why that action is needed. And the reasons they gave to Gallup are precisely those that Bush has been citing in public for months.

When Gallup asked, "Would you say you do — or do not — have a clear idea why the United States is considering new military action against Iraq? 56 percent of those surveyed answered yes, while 39 percent said no. Dividing respondents along party lines, 72 percent of Republicans said yes, while 45 percent of Democrats and 52 percent of Independents said they have a clear idea of the case for action in Iraq.

When those who said yes were asked further, "As far as you know, what are the reasons why the United States may take new military action against Iraq?" 30 percent said fear of chemical/biological weapons, 30 percent said fear of terrorism, and 13 percent said to promote peace or remove the Iraqi threat to the U.S. Just four percent said it is because "Iraq had something to do with the 9/11 terrorist attacks," while four percent cited oil, and three percent said the U.S. might act "to finish what was started years ago [or] what George H.W. Bush failed to do."

On a larger question, Gallup asked, "would you favor or oppose sending American troops back to the Persian Gulf in order to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq?" Fifty-nine percent of those polled said yes, while 34 percent said no, and seven percent said they had no opinion. The poll also asked, "As far as you are concerned, should the removal of Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq be a very important foreign policy goal of the U.S., a somewhat important goal, not too important, or not an important goal at all?" Forty-seven said a very important goal, 36 percent said a somewhat important goal — for a total of 83 percent who felt it was a very or somewhat important goal. Seven percent said not too important, while another seven percent said not important at all, and three percent said they had no opinion.

The results echo the findings of a Washington Post poll taken at about the same time. In that poll, released August 13, respondents were asked, "Would you favor or oppose having U.S. forces take military action against Iraq to force Saddam Hussein from power?" Sixty-nine percent said they favored American military action, while 22 percent said they opposed it, and nine percent had no opinion. Fifty-seven percent said they supported military action "if that caused a significant number of U.S. military casualties." In addition, 79 percent of those polled told the Post they believe Iraq poses a threat to the United States — while just 16 percent said they do not believe Iraq poses a threat to the U.S.

The numbers are likely to go up if President Bush makes a formal statement about the need to remove Saddam. But much of that case has already been made, and despite what the president's critics say, it appears the American public has figured it out.