Editorial: Partisan politics a disservice

Friday, May 21, 2004 | 8:54 a.m.

This week House Republican leaders intensified their criticism of the Senate Armed Services Committee's investigation into the abuse of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter of California, the Washington Post has reported, have gone so far as to say that the aggressive probe in the Senate, led by Republicans, is undermining the war effort.

What's really going on here is that House Republicans, who tend to be very conservative ideologically and thus are President Bush's political soulmates, want to sidetrack any investigation into the prisoner abuses so that it doesn't hurt Bush's re-election chances. It's not coincidental that this is happening as the investigation makes its way higher up the chain of command and the president's job approval ratings fall. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans on the whole are more moderate and tend to have an independent streak, making them more willing to stand up to the White House and get to the truth of the matter. It's interesting to note that those Republican senators who have been particularly tough in demanding answers are those with distinguished military backgrounds, such as Arizona's John McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam for more than five years, and Nebraska's Chuck Hagel, a combat veteran in the Vietnam War who received two Purple Hearts.

Someone should remind those Republicans timid about investigating military abuses that their first loyalty is to their country -- not to their party. Allowing rank partisanship to take over now would be a disservice to the country. Congress needs to get to the bottom of the scandal and that means making a full accounting of what happened and determining who is responsible.