Split wide open

Citing past public statements by Cheney and others about the prospective ease with which the Iraq war could be won and the warm welcome US forces would receive from the Iraqi people, one former GOP appointee said he and his allies were looking at ‘‘whether this President has learned something from this advice he has been getting.’’

Other Republicans and administration officials also expressed concern that the Iraq war plan was based on faulty assumptions that the Iraqi government would collapse. And some officials, especially in the State Department, fear that post-war diplomacy, if handled poorly, could further estrange the nation from allies and international institutions.

There is criticism of Powell, among some groups, for failing to combat some of the assumptions about the war with Iraq more forcefully. Administration officials insist there is unity among Bush’s senior advisers. But they also acknowledge that disputes among senior Cabinet officials are never really settled.

During a Saturday teleconference with his senior advisers, Bush endorsed Rumsfeld’s desire to prepare for an advance on the Republican Guard around Baghdad. ‘‘The President has demonstrated strong leadership and has the unified support of his whole team,’’ a senior defence official said. The official added that any suggestion of division ‘‘plays into the hands of Baghdad’s propaganda.’’ A spokeswoman for Cheney declined comment.

Powell distanced himself from those questioning the war plan and the administration’s unity. ‘‘I have full confidence in the plan and in the commanders executing it.’’ A subtext of the debate, expressed by people sympathetic to Powell, is that the Secretary of State more closely reflects the internationalism of Bush’s father, who assembled a broad coalition to oust Iraq from Kuwait. The former president, in an interview to Newsweek, twice defended Powell. ‘‘I hate criticism of Colin Powell from any quarter,’’ he said.

Some former and current officials viewed the remarks as a message to Powell’s opponents. Last summer, some within the group of former GOP officials advocated going to the UN for confronting Iraq rather than moving unilaterally. Bush decided to try to obtain UN backing — a course Powell favoured — after his father’s national security adviser, Brent Scowcroft, and secretary of state, James A. Baker III, supported that approach. Administration officials said Bush always intended to go to the UN and was not influenced by his father’s former aides.

Powell is regarded as a seasoned infighter who appears to emerge unscathed even when he doesn’t win — a quality they attribute to media manipulation and careful attention to his public image. He retains close contact with the uniformed military, who often are in conflict with Rumsfeld. Many officials suspect that Powell wields influence through this back channel.

‘‘Rumsfeld wants to put the ‘Powell Doctrine’ into obsolescence,’’ the Bush adviser said. The doctrine calls for decisive force to ensure success.

A senior State Department official said Powell did not recommend a larger force. Indeed, he publicly denied that the plan fails to live up to the Powell Doctrine. Yet, he distanced himself from the assurances of victory and offered his interpretation of the military campaign.

The day that Lieutenant General William Wallace was quoted as saying US forces had faced unexpected problems — remarks that infuriated White House officials — Powell said: ‘‘I have absolute confidence in the commanders who are running this war. … And I know it. I trained them.’’ (LAT-WP)