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Rove, Condi trying to force Rumsfeld out; Cheney resists
WASHINGTON — Donald Rumsfeld is likely to remain at the Pentagon until the spring, despite strong pressure from key White House political advisers for him to leave sooner. According to well-placed Pentagon sources, Vice President Cheney has argued the case for Mr. Rumsfeld to remain as defense secretary until at least the spring, and Mr. Cheney would prefer that Mr. Rumsfeld stayed longer.Well, that's one man with sense. Karl Rove and other White House advisers, however, have maintained that Mr. Rumsfeld has become a political liability and will undermine possible improvement in relations between Washington and European allies, the sources said. "The White House political shop wants him out now," a senior Defense Department source said of Mr. Rumsfeld. Note to Karl: Bush isn't running for a third term. Much will depend on what happens with Condoleezza Rice. Administration officials told The New York Sun that Ms. Rice wants to replace Mr. Rumsfeld. If Ms. Rice gets the nod, that will relieve pressure to create an opening for her soon at Foggy Bottom. "She wants to move on and has made it clear that she wants to become the first woman to head the Defense Department," a high-level Pentagon source said of Ms. Rice. The State Department already has been headed by a woman. And we all know how well that turned out. Details of the behind-the-scenes tussle over who goes and who remains in Mr. Bush's second-term Cabinet are being closely watched by the foreign policy establishment in Washington for clues as to what the president intends to do overseas in the next four years. Clean out out the obstructionist, antiwar Foggy Bottom elite, or surrender to them? Ms. Rice, if she is appointed to the Pentagon, is likely to give it a very different staff. "Her instincts are not Rumsfeld's," the Annenberg professor at the Institute of World Politics, Michael Waller, said. "At the National Security Council, she kept Clinton holdovers like Richard Clarke and favored Foreign Service career officers." Oops, guess that answers the question. I can't tell how much of this is preemptive press posturing, but if Rumsfeld leaves before Powell, the policy reunification we were pleased about yesterday could make things unfortunately worse. Posted by: someone 2004-11-12 |
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