Cohen Faults Bush’s Arms Control Plan

Defense Secretary William S. Cohen offered George W. Bush access to the same Pentagon information Vice President Al Gore is privy to, saying that would keep politics out of national security and produce a more informed debate in the presidential campaign. Cohen, a Republican like Bush, said he believes proposals the Texas governor made last week likely would lead to dangerous new arms races. Bush campaign spokeswoman Mindy Tucker said Cohen’s implication that the GOP candidate might be ill-informed on security ignores the quality of his advisors. “Surely Secretary Cohen is not suggesting that Defense Secretary Dick Cheney and Gen. Colin Powell, who led our [national] defenses, don’t understand them,” Tucker said.