Rove blames Congress for rushing vote on war

WASHINGTON – Former deputy White House chief of staff Karl Rove said that Congress rushed to vote on the looming war in Iraq in the fall of 2002 over the objections of the Bush administration, a version of events disputed by leading congressional Democrats and even some of Rove’s former colleagues.

Rove said the administration did not want lawmakers to vote on a resolution authorizing the use of force against Iraq that soon because it would “make things move too fast” before President Bush could line up international allies and would politicize the issue with midterm congressional elections looming. But Democrats and some Republicans involved with the issue at the time said that Bush wanted a quick vote.

The comments by Rove in a television interview foreshadowed his attempt to influence the record through a book he plans to write to correct what he says are misperceptions and to reveal what really happened during the eventful Bush presidency.

Speaking with Charlie Rose on his PBS talk show recently, Rove said “one of the untold stories about the war is why did the United States Congress … vote on the war resolution in the fall of 2002.” Asked to elaborate, he said the White House was pushed into having the vote, and that Congress controls its own schedule, not the president.

“The administration was opposed to voting on it in the fall of 2002,” Rove said. Asked why, he said: “Because we didn’t think it belonged within the confines of the election. There was an election coming up within a matter of weeks. We thought it made it too political. We wanted it outside the confines of it. It seemed to make things move too fast. There were things that needed to be done to bring along allies and potential allies abroad.”

Democrats reacted angrily and accused him of trying to rewrite history. “Either he has a very faulty memory, or he’s not telling the truth,” said former Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle, D-S.D. In an interview, Daschle said that he raised the timing of the vote with Bush during a leadership breakfast at the White House in late September. “They told us time was of the essence and they needed the vote and they were going to move forward,” he said.

Rove declined to comment further. News accounts and transcripts from the time show Bush publicly arguing against any delay of the vote. Asked by reporters on Sept. 13, 2002, about Democrats who did not want to vote until after the U.N. Security Council acted, the president said, “If I were running for office, I’m not sure how I’d explain to the American people – say, ‘Vote for me, and, oh, by the way, on a matter of national security, I think I’m going to wait for somebody else to act.’ “

The House voted on the issue Oct. 10, and the Senate voted the next day.