The Magazine

DeWayne Wickham, Wellstone, and more.

Nov 11, 2002, Vol. 8, No. 09
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DEWAYNE'S WORLD

Four years ago, DeWayne Wickham, whose column on the USA Today editorial page occupies some of the choicest real estate in opinion journalism, made a convincing case that the dog days of dealing diplomatically with Saddam Hussein were done. "In refusing to permit U.N. inspectors unfettered access to sites thought to be hiding places for his weapons of mass destruction," Wickham maintained, "Saddam trivializes the role of the world body." He wasn't done. "There's no proof that diplomacy works with Saddam. Diplomatic efforts didn't stop him from invading Kuwait. And months of jawboning failed to convince him to withdraw. Only the humiliating military defeat his army suffered accomplished that."

Since that column of Feb. 13, 1998, several things have taken place: Weapons inspectors were kicked out, the inspection team was neutered, and Saddam has doggedly continued his defiance of international law. And one thing hasn't happened: inspections. If ever there was a textbook example of failed diplomacy, it would be the U.N.'s capitulation on Iraq since 1998.

It was surprising, then, to see Wickham argue in his Oct. 10 column, headlined "Congress Must Collar the Dogs of War," that Congress should grant the U.N. "a reasonable timetable to ensure that Iraq has disarmed--and urge Bush to work with that international body to get this done." Huh?

Intrigued, THE SCRAPBOOK checked out other Wickham arguments on Iraq, and sure enough, faster than you can say Republican-in-the-White-House, Wickham--like Tom Daschle, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and many other prominent Democrats--seems to be chasing his own tail.

Some highlights:

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