(U-WIRE) MEDFORD, Mass. – Republicans are fond of proclaiming that they are the party of strong defense and national security. The 2004 election was largely decided by Americans who determined that Republicans, and President Bush in particular, would be stronger leaders in the war on terrorism.

The past three years suggest that Republicans should be kept as far away from America’s foreign policy apparatus as possible.

First, and most obviously, the current administration and Republican Congress have committed American military and economic resources to a peripheral conflict which does not address American security concerns. According to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, 60 percent of Americans think that the Iraq War was not worth fighting, while 52 percent think the war has not made the United States more secure.

Even worse, administration officials overstated both estimates of Iraq’s capability to produce weapons of mass destruction and Saddam Hussein’s ties to al Qaeda terrorist groups. The primary source for many of the administration’s claims of an Iraq-al Qaeda connection was identified as a likely liar by a Defense Intelligence Agency report published in February 2002.

This is also not a radical left-wing conspiracy theory. According to the same poll cited above, 55 percent of Americans believe the Bush administration intentionally misled the public in stating the case for war.

Events of the past few weeks have provided further evidence that today’s Republican Party is not to be trusted with American security. The indictment of I. Lewis Libby reveals a clear, concerted effort by the administration to discredit a dissident voice by making the name of a national security asset public. It shows at the very least incompetence and a cavalier attitude at the highest levels of government.

As Trent Lott revealed Monday, the leak of the existence of secret CIA prisons in foreign locations around the world almost certainly came from a member of the Republican senatorial caucus. As Mr. Lott said, “We can’t keep our mouths shut.” Republicans should stay out of foreign policy and perhaps devote more time to writing the dirty novels that they seem to so thoroughly enjoy.

Staff Editorial

Tufts Daily (Tufts U.)