Candidates attack Bush postwar policy

Democratic presidential candidates are escalating an offensive on President Bush's foreign policy, concluding that he may be vulnerable in an area Republicans have dominated since the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Two leading hopefuls said Monday that Bush is endangering U.S. troops by failing to enlist international support in postwar Iraq. (Related story, Bush approval ratings drop in poll.)

The barrage from Gephardt and a near-identical one from Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry reflect a growing confidence among Democrats on security issues. It also reflects a surprising consensus among the rivals for the nomination on the approach they would pursue as an alternative to Bush: closer cooperation with allies; more financial support from them; more NATO, Arab and Muslim troops in Iraq; and consequent easing of the U.S. image as an occupying power and target of violence.

During the war, with troops in harm's way, Democrats stuck to economic lines of attack against Bush. But now they are assailing his failure before the war to assemble a large international coalition and his unwillingness now to ask for help from NATO and the United Nations.

Also in USA Today - Finding the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction that President Bush cited as his main justification for going to war is now a secondary issue, says Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.

More than three months after Baghdad fell, American soldiers are not being treated like liberators. Instead, they are mired in a guerrilla war, according to Gen. John Abizaid, the commander of U.S. forces in the region.