Romney faults Bush on war, Medicare, and ports pact

WASHINGTON -- Governor Mitt Romney yesterday criticized the Bush administration's handling of the war in Iraq, Medicare spending, and the pending accord to allow a Middle Eastern company operate six US ports, suggesting that President Bush was not fully engaged on an issue that has caused a furor on Capitol Hill.

In remarks on national television, Romney did not directly attack the president, who hosted the nation's governors last night at a White House dinner. But the Massachusetts governor, like other GOP lawmakers considering a run for president, carefully separated himself from a president suffering from low approval ratings in various polls and criticism from both major parties on the war and the ports arrangement.

''It's unfortunate that it wasn't raised to the top level in the White House much earlier," Romney said of the port controversy, echoing bipartisan complaints that Bush was not even aware of the situation until the middle of February, months after a state-owned company in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, announced plans to buy a British company that had been operating the ports.

''Clearly, people in America have real concern and, you know, we as a nation take very seriously matters about which technology we're going to send overseas, who's going to own certain assets, infrastructure in the United States. I think post-9/11, we're going to have to take a very careful, close look at the decisions we've made, and I think we're going to see a full review. And I think that's appropriate," Romney said.

Romney has not announced a candidacy for president, and he declined to do so yesterday in an appearance on ''Fox News Sunday." But he has made trips to New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina, the sites of early presidential primaries, and he is considered likely to seek the Oval Office.

Numerous Republicans have joined Democrats on Capitol Hill in expressing outrage over the pending seaport deal, saying that port security is at risk if a state-owned Middle Eastern company is permitted to operate them.

The Bush administration argues that the UAE is an ally in combating terrorism, and notes that American agencies such as the Coast Guard would still be handling security at the ports.

''The test is not whether the acquiring country is an Arab country or not. The test is whether the acquiring country . . . and the company through which they would exercise control, raises national security concerns," the national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said yesterday on CNN's ''Late Edition."

Romney also joined some of his fellow Republicans in chastising the Bush administration on Iraq and the Medicare prescription drug benefit.

Romney, who, like most GOP lawmakers, backed the war in Iraq, said he did not think war supporters had done ''an adequate job explaining to the American people all the reasons for entering Iraq."

In addition, he assailed both the intelligence failures leading up to the war and the Abu Ghraib prison abuse.

Further, Romney said, the United States has not put ''sufficient troops" in Iraq after the period of major conflict. ''I think the president would agree there's a benefit that comes with hindsight," he said.

Republicans have long been perceived to have had a campaign advantage over Democrats on national security issues. But the plummeting popularity of the war in Iraq -- combined with opposition to having Dubai Ports World operate six US ports -- has given Democrats hope.

Indeed, they may try to usenational security issues to their advantage in the midterm elections.

A recent poll by Rasmussen Reports found that Democrats in Congress had edged ahead of Bush, 43 percent to 41 percent, on the question of whom Americans trust more on a variety of national security issues.

Romney also criticized the Medicare prescription drug package as too expensive.

The program, which the Bush administration said would cost $400 billion over 10 years when Congress voted on it in late 2003, is now expected to cost as much as $724 billion for the 10-year period of 2006-2015, according to an estimate by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

''I'd like to see a holistic program that says, 'OK, what are we going to do for people who are retiring in Medicare and those that are poor on Medicaid, how do we make sure that this doesn't become an overwhelming burden?' Let's include prescription drugs but keep it from growing at such an outrageous rate," Romney said.

Romney defended his evolving statements on abortion rights. As a candidate for governor in 2002, the governor said, he backed a woman's right to choose an abortion, but since he has been considering a presidential run, Romney has presented himself as an antiabortion candidate.

Romney said yesterday that he has always been personally against abortion, and that studying the issue of stem cell research had led him to conclude that life begins at conception.

''I'm not talking about religious definitions, but scientific definitions -- and that to respect human life, we have to do so from conception. And therefore, I indicated I am prolife and will respect the rights of human life," he said.