Daschle’s Unilateral Attack
Tom Daschle goes after the White House.

August 9, 2001 1:15 p.m.

enate 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."