Alleged Bush Link to Allawi Speech Criticized

President Bush came under criticism from a senior Senate Democrat on Thursday after a newspaper report that the U.S. government and a representative of Bush’s reelection campaign helped draft Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s speech to Congress last week.

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California said in a letter to Bush that the report in Thursday’s Washington Post raised doubts about Allawi’s optimistic assertions on Iraqi reconstruction efforts and the prospect for elections.

“To learn that this was not an independent view, but one that was massaged by your campaign operatives, jaundices the speech and reduces the credibility of his remarks,” Feinstein said. “I hope that you’ll let me know whether these claims are accurate.”

The White House had no immediate comment on Feinstein’s letter or the Post article, which was published as Bush and Democratic rival John F. Kerry prepared to argue about Iraq in the first of three presidential debates.

The Bush-Cheney campaign denied involvement in the Allawi speech. The White House showcased Allawi’s visit to the United States as evidence of progress in Iraq that bolstered Bush’s optimistic outlook for the country in the face of escalating insurgent violence.

Allawi assured a joint session of Congress on Sept. 23 that Iraq would successfully hold elections in January, and he appeared alongside Bush in the White House Rose Garden, where he blamed the news media for negative perceptions about his country.

But many of his remarks on Iraq employed the same themes, and sometimes the same terms, as statements by Bush and other administration officials.

On Thursday, the Post quoted unnamed administration officials as saying Allawi had been coached and aided by the U.S. government, its allies and friends of the administration.

It cited former Coalition Provisional Authority spokesman Dan Senor as having sent Allawi recommended phrases and helping him rehearse.

The newspaper said Senor represented the Bush campaign in media appearances. Bush-Cheney spokesman Scott Stanzel said Senor did not work for the campaign, though he acknowledged that campaign staff direct media outlets to Senor for interviews.