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Majority Leader Tom Daschle, following up on a similar attack last
week by House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, is accusing the Bush
administration of "abdicating" its position of world leadership
by walking away from a series of international agreements on global
warming, anti-ballistic missiles, small arms, and other issues.
"The administration seems to have forgotten an essential fact
of today's global age," Daschle said in a speech to the Woodrow
Wilson International Center in Washington. "With the Cold War
over, fear of a common enemy no longer keeps our allies by our side.
Our allies will follow us only if we use our unparalleled strength
and prosperity to advance common interests. Only then will our power
inspire respect instead of resentment."
In his speech, Daschle repeatedly stressed American vulnerability
— "a nation as susceptible to an explosives-laden skiff as
it is to nuclear weapons...a nation that can be attacked by a single
terrorist, or the rising tide of global warming...a computer virus,
or a biological one." He also suggested that the AIDS virus
is "no less threatening" than the possibility that terrorists
might strike American targets with weapons of mass destruction.
After concentrating on the small-bore dangers facing the United
States, Daschle repeated his opposition to President Bush's missile
defense proposals. "This administration's single-minded approach
[to missile defense] jeopardizes larger U.S. political, economic,
and security goals around the world," Daschle said. "If
we choose to act unilaterally, it will make it harder to develop
the necessary multilateral responses to arms control and a whole
array of global issues."
Statements like that prompted derision from some administration
officials. "It's laughable," said one. "People in
South Dakota need to have it pointed out to them that they don't
have a missile defense. Tom Daschle's plan is just to watch
'em land."
Administration officials also point to a few issues that were missing
from Daschle's speech. Although Daschle stressed the importance
of trade — "the only way our economy can continue to grow,"
he said, "is if we can sell American products to the 96 percent
of consumers who live in other countries" — he did not mention
congressional Democrats' inaction on giving the president greater
trade-promotion authority.
Daschle also failed to discuss the issue of an American ambassador
to the United Nations. "When is the internationalist party
going to confirm John Negroponte?" an administration official
asks, referring to the president's nominee to represent the United
States in the world body. So far, Democrats have dragged their feet
on the nomination.
Finally, Republicans believe that Daschle and his fellow Democrats'
decision to attack the Bush administration for not acceding to the
demands of liberal European government officials on issues like
the Kyoto agreement and the ABM Treaty will ultimately be a political
loser at home. Not only do administration officials believe they
are right on those issues, they also believe the public will agree
with them. Says one official: "If putting America's interests
first is the wrong thing to do, then we're guilty."
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