Richard Armitage, Public Enema Number Two
We've mentioned this before, but now new evidence suggests Colin Powell's snarky little sidekick Dastardly Dick Armitage was Bob Novak and Bob Woodward's source for Valerie Plame being a CIA agent.
If so, how big of that little crapweasel to hide like a sissy while Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney, and the President twist in the wind.
And how utterly typical of the way Powell ran things between racquetball games with Prince Bandar this is.
If so, how big of that little crapweasel to hide like a sissy while Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney, and the President twist in the wind.
And how utterly typical of the way Powell ran things between racquetball games with Prince Bandar this is.
posted by Teflon at 6:46 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Yes.
And, there's a link between Powel's policy influence and his performance leading up to his UN appearance with the song and dance about WMDs (the Then), and the present ability of Iran to play the West over their nuclear ambitions (the Now). That Mario Loyola article, "Before They Go Nuclear...", National Review, 8-20-06, summarizes how dependance on diplomacy (then) via UN Security Council has led to the unending sequence of shuffling and redealing, while Iran just checks the bet and ups the ante (now). As I see it, Bush & Company began the post 9/11 era with a solid threat of preemption, demonstrated first with Afghanistan, and following with the buildup for Iraq. But (then), diplomacy and UN approval seemed to take paramount importance.
Right then a simple statement, ala Trinity in "Matrix Revolutions", should have been the approach to dealing with the situation:
Matrix Revolutions
Trinity: I don't have time for this shit.
[puts gun to Merovingian's head]
Trinity: How's this for a deal? You give me Neo, or we all die, right here, right now.
.....silence......
Trinity: [to the Merovingian] What's it gonna be, Merv?
Instead, Powell did his dog-and-pony show for the UN with the aerials of the truck parking lot, the conjecture on what could have been stored in those van enclosures, and we waited for Coffee & Company to bless us.
Preemption, as a valid negotiating position, began to crumble at that moment. I recall wondering at the time, "What the hell's this all about...just effing do it!" As it turned out, we had to just do it anyhow, but the "process" was legitimized by Powell, and we're stuck with it today. Loyola's article says it better.
That is a great point, LT.
The deal with the devil George W. Bush made at the outset of the GWOT was not with Musharraf of Pakistan, it was with Powell of Foggy Bottom.
I wish I could say Condi was turning State around, but her horrible Mideast begging tour indicates otherwise.
Here's an idea:
Bush should announce Donald Rumsfeld is stepping down as SecDef immediately, and, while the Washington press corps is in mid-high five, announce that he's leaving to take over the Department of State.
Help!
There's coffee all over my keyboard, and I'm laughing so loud from the floor, I can't get up.
Can't top that.
Just a follow-on, what if Rumsfeld's first policy move was then recalling all diplos and staff from the quagmire at Turtle Bay, and holding up Coffee's checks?
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