Bush Administration is run by incompetent cabal

Cain

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Cain
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As Colin Powell's right-hand man at the State Department, Larry Wilkerson seethed quietly during President Bush's first term. Yesterday, Colonel Wilkerson made up for lost time.

He said the vice president and the secretary of defense created a "Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal" that hijacked U.S. foreign policy. He said of former defense undersecretary Douglas Feith: "Seldom in my life have I met a dumber man." Addressing scholars, journalists and others at the New America Foundation, Wilkerson accused Bush of "cowboyism" and said he had viewed Condoleezza Rice as "extremely weak." Of American diplomacy, he fretted, "I'm not sure the State Department even exists anymore."

And how about Karen Hughes's efforts to boost the country's image abroad? "It's hard to sell [manure]," Wilkerson said, quoting an Egyptian friend.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/19/AR2005101902246.html?sub=AR

Here's the NYT covering the same story: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/21/p...r_1&adxnnlx=1130022591-U2jdJxegmvlWNUBeGbW4pg

"What I saw was a cabal between the vice president of the United States, Richard Cheney, and the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, on critical issues," he said.

The former aide referred to Mr. Bush as someone who "is not versed in international relations, and not too much interested in them, either." He was far more admiring of the president's father, whom he called "one of the finest presidents we've ever had."
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Heh, and here's Rush Limbaugh discussing the same story (heavily quoting from the WP article):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1506645/posts

Okay, so there are two really telling things here about Mr. Wilkerson's mind-set -- and I must admit I had not heard of him until I saw the story, and so I will also admit I don't know that much about him, but if he's going to sit there and say, "I'm not sure the State Department even exists anymore," I want to take you back to this program. I don't have the exact date, but when Condoleezza Rice was named secretary of state, I said to you people, "What's happening here is the same thing that Bush sent Porter Goss over to the CIA to do and clean the place out," and we have talked countless times on this program about how liberal-infested the State Department is, a bunch of career libs, many of them held over from the Clinton administration, and they have a different world view. They have a liberal world view, and I know that many of you who are maybe new to all this or relatively new to it, within the State Department ask, "How can the State Department have people against US policy?" Well, how can we have liberals? Same question. You think that every American's patriotic particularly when we go to war? No, folks, there are some people that don't think that we deserve to win wars, and most of them are in the State Department or a lot of them are, and the whole point of sending Rice over there was to clean the place out. The whole point of sending Karen Hughes to the Middle East was to get rid of the influence in the State Department that regularly sells this country out and undercuts it.

Now, for this, the president deserves praise. He deserves plaudits! The best quote that Mr. Wilkerson said is, "I'm not sure the State Department even exists anymore."
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I was just thinking "good, at least it's not just one incompetent running it all by himself."
 
CapelDodger said:
Well, duh.
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Yeah, I was talking to my dad a moment ago on the phone, wondered if he was aware of Wilkerson's comments. He basically gave me the whole "tell-us-something-we-don't-already-know." Bush uninformed? Astonishing. Feith is a moron? What a surprise. Cheney and Rumsfeld running things? Big whoop.

But here's the thing: this is all coming from Powell's close aide.
 
Am I supposed to be surprised or something?
 
Of all the people in the early Bush administration, Powell was the one who disappointed me the most. The clear message about how he REALLY felt about Bush's policies would have been best expressed with his resignation. He just couldn't seem to muster the courage.

So this after-the-fact stuff from his close aids seems like more of the same, dare I say it - cowardly stuff.

Maybe I'm being too harsh on Powell and his crew but I expected more from the guy.
 
It wasn't Powell's fault. He just wasn't as qualified to assess the military situation and outcome of the Iraq invasion as well as Bush and Cheney, with all their vast military experience.
 
er.

Hijacked U.S. foreign policy from whom, exactly? Setting foreign policy is the job of the Executive Branch and Congress. The State Department exists to help develop and implement the President's foreign policy, not create foreign policy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Department_of_State

The Executive Branch and the U.S. Congress have constitutional responsibilities for U.S. foreign policy. Within the Executive Branch, the Department of State is the lead U.S. foreign affairs agency, and its head, the Secretary of State, is the President's principal foreign policy adviser, though other officials or individuals may have more influence on his foreign policy decisions. The Department advances U.S. objectives and interests in the world through its primary role in developing and implementing the President's foreign policy. The Department also supports the foreign affairs activities of other U.S. Government entities including the United States Department of Commerce and the U.S. Agency for International Development. It also provides an array of important services to U.S. citizens and to foreigners seeking to visit or immigrate to the U.S.
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Tell us something new and exciting, Cain... This state of affairs has been appallingly obvious to us outsiders for some years now. :rolleyes:

To me, Rush Limbaugh is convincing no-one that the sh1t-rain he still supports is actually pure spring dew! So much for intelligent "right-thinking" radio commentory.
 
I have to agree with Kopji to some extent. I thought that Colin Powell was the obvious best presidential candidate in years, in a league well above any other candidate on either side. He coulda been a contender! ;)

But when he refused to run, it was like a star baseball player refusing to play in the major league - totally disappointing and utterly baffling. And that he was prepared to be involved with Dubya was equally confusing - I have a feeling that there is way more to that than we know now. Perhaps the above item is but the first of many exposes...

Anyway, I also hope that Powell changes his mind in a few years' time. Ed knows the USA could do with a reputable and capable president!
 
peptoabysmal said:
Setting foreign policy is the job of the Executive Branch and Congress. The State Department exists to help develop and implement the President's foreign policy, not create foreign policy.
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I like the way you manage to state the obvious with a sense of real discovery.
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