The rumors of Colin Powell’s discomfort with the administration have been swirling around almost from the start of this regime, but here come some more:
The chasm that has emerged between State and Defense over the past three years is wider than it has been at any point in recent history, a division that transcends anything remotely healthy or useful. It is no longer just a difference of strategy and logistics but of fundamental values, principles, and philosophy. As Powell’s friend and mentor, Harlan Ullman—the man who coined the phrase shock and awe—told me, “There’s an ideological core to Bush, and I think it’s hard for Powell to penetrate that.” When asked about Powell’s relationship with Vice President Cheney— Woodward’s book described the two as barely on speaking terms; Rice then claimed that they are “more than on speaking terms: They’re friendly…very friendly”— Ullman said, “I can tell you firsthand that there is a tremendous barrier between Cheney and Powell, and there has been for a long time. It’s like McCain saying that his relations with the president are ‘congenial,’ meaning McCain doesn’t tell the president to go f*ck himself every time.” Then he added, “Condi’s a jerk.” Or as Larry Wilkerson described his boss’s role in the cabinet, “He has spent as much time doing damage control and, shall we say, apologizing around the world for some less-than-graceful actions as he has anything else.”
Highlights of the article include:
Powell’s chief of staff, Larry Wilkerson, on whether Powell will return
for a second term: “He’s tired. Mentally and physically. And if the president
were to ask him to stay on — if the president is re-elected and the president
were to ask him to stay on, he might for a transitional period, but I don’t
think he’d want to do another four years.”
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage on Powell’s presentation pre-
war presentation before the U.N.: “It’s a source of great distress for the
secretary.”
Rice insists that Powell had not been sent to the U.N. per se, because he
was the only one who could have made the speech, and says: “There’s really
nobody else that can do it … Everybody said it would have to be Colin … We
wanted to have enough of a profile. It was an important presentation. So we
wanted to have enough profile.”
I can’t wait to see what other articles and books by people in-the-know will appear in the next few months before the election.
If only Colin Powell would take the provocative step of resigning before the election… but he’s still a team player.
