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| Powell, Ashcroft, Ridge May Depart |
| 2004-11-04 |
| EFL The anticipated departures have left Washington abuzz on how the president will shape his new Cabinet. Should President Bush conclude that he must restore America's relations with the international community and balance the budget,he will likely look to advisers that closely resemble those that surrounded his father. The problem,however, is that many of those figures have been openly hostile to the Iraq war that the president defended repeatedly on the campaign trail. Not just them, but the entire Department of State and much of the CIA. While no decisions have been made, the latest speculation has the White House tapping former deputy attorney general Larry Thompson to take the job of Mr. Ashcroft. If Mr. Thompson becomes attorney general, he will be the first African American to hold the position. Governor Pataki has been mentioned to take over the Department of Homeland Security, filling the shoes of another moderate northeastern governor, Mr. Ridge. There is a strong possibility that the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, will become secretary of state once Mr. Powell leaves. Was Condi a bureaucracy-buster at Stanford? Should Ms. Rice move to Foggy Bottom, the fiercest internal competition opens up for her old job. Among those names in circulation are the deputy defense secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, the man largely credited as the intellectual architect of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the undersecretary of state, John Bolton, an early candidate in 2001 for the slot of deputy secretary of state and a skeptic of international agreements with rogue states. Wolfowitz would be a nice slap in the face of the antiwar MSM. Also in the running in this scenario is senior National Security Council director, Robert Blackwill, a former ambassador to India who is credited with drafting the strategy to marginalize Ahmad Chalabi from the interim government in Baghdad. If Mr. Bush is to heed the advice of [Tony Blair]--that is, Foggy Bottom-style "realism"--Mr. Blackwill, or the deputy national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, would likely emerge as frontrunners to run the National Security Council. |
| Posted by:someone |
| #12 State badly needs a housecleaning of the sort Rummy's attempting in the Pentagon. Condi strikes me as just the sort of person who'd be up to the task. |
| Posted by: AzCat 2004-11-04 11:37:36 PM |
| #11 I think that Condoleeza Rice will be VP by 2006. That would give her time for a little federal executive experience and position her for 2008. As for the State Department, many of its senior people are of a vintage where Foreign Service was a nifty way to avoid the draft and not have to go to foreign countries where people would shoot at you. It would be good for them to move on. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-11-04 7:32:56 PM |
| #10 AC, You may have a point. I can't picture Condi drinking champagne with Kim Jong-il as in the case of former Sec. Foggy Bottom, MadMax Halfbright. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2004-11-04 4:46:03 PM |
| #9 Condi does not like dealing with foreign diplodicks. Which is why she's perfect for the job. |
| Posted by: AzCat 2004-11-04 4:06:38 PM |
| #8 NYT has an article stating that the Condi does not like dealing with foreign diplodicks. She prefers Defense Dept. I don't see Paul W. as NCAdvisor. He is too much of a lightning rod. He pissed me off when he couldn't remember how many U.S. troops died in Iraq, at the Sentate hearing. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2004-11-04 3:07:07 PM |
| #7 RC, That and the CIA resigning would do wonders for our National security. Picture thousands of tenured professors with security clearances and you have both departments. Too bad they can't be forced to resign, no matter how much they screw up. The CIA/State missed almost all the big political and military events in the past 30 years. Neither predicted the trouble with the rise of fundamental Islam (Iran), fall of the Soviet Union and entire Warsaw pact, the rise and then crushing of dissent in the Peoples Republic of China, and the problems in the Balkans. Getting rid of both of these would IMPROVE national security. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2004-11-04 2:17:27 PM |
| #6 Dream moment: "Today the President announced that the State Department will be resigning." |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-11-04 1:31:34 PM |
| #5 Is he still there? Talk about dead weight. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-11-04 1:27:47 PM |
| #4 take Mineta out! |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-11-04 1:19:57 PM |
| #3 Ridge had already announced he was leaving for financial reasons. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-11-04 1:18:56 PM |
| #2 The article also says Rummy is staying -- I put that in the title, but it got chewed up somewhere. |
| Posted by: someone 2004-11-04 1:14:24 PM |
| #1 No title, no link. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-11-04 1:00:42 PM |