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| Home Front: Politix |
| Apparatchiks lining up for Wolfowitz job |
| 2005-03-18 |
| Lots of World Bank nom stuff, but this is the interesting part... The Pentagon's often-reliable vote for tough action against state sponsors of terror in interagency meetings is in jeopardy as Mr. Wolfowitz leaves his position as deputy secretary of defense along with the no. 3 civilian at the Defense Department, Doug Feith, whose departure was announced this summer. The names floated as possible replacements for Mr.Wolfowitz have built their reputations as managers willing to work closely with a bureaucracy often hostile to the president's broad foreign policy vision. Among those said to be eyeing the job Mr. Wolfowitz is leaving are Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone, the secretary of the Navy, Gordon England, and the outgoing administrator for NASA, Sean O'Keefe. NASA!? One administration official told the Sun that Mr. Wolfowitz initially did not want to leave the Pentagon, where he has played a key role in shaping Iraq policy and helped draft many of Mr. Bush's foreign policy speeches during the presidential campaign. "This is starting to look like neoconservativism without neoconservatives," this official said. To lose the Pentagon just as we're starting to reclaim State would, obviously, be a giant mistake. But Bush has been pretty good with his noms so far this term. |
| Posted by:someone |
| #11 What was O'Keefe's job before NASA? Secretary of the Navy? |
| Posted by: Dishman 2005-03-18 6:35:53 PM |
| #10 There is this opinion which is completely different A shadow no bigger than Condi's hand or the reason that Messrs Bolton and Wolfowitz are being lined up for these appointments, however prestigious they are, is that their progress has been blocked at home. Wolfowitz was passed over for the post that he wanted of National Security Adviser; Bolton was passed over for the post he wanted of deputy Secretary of State. And who was the person who passed them over? Reportedly, none other than the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. So maybe the whole bit about Condi changing State is a hoax? |
| Posted by: Cynic 2005-03-18 3:38:54 PM |
| #9 This stuff's easy - anybody can do it |
| Posted by: Les Aspin 2005-03-18 10:01:56 AM |
| #8 Ah, it must be spring. The inner beltway sniping season is now officially opened. Can't tell your sources without a playbook, get your playbook now! Who's on first? |
| Posted by: Snung Snuth2112 2005-03-18 9:52:37 AM |
| #7 id be very surprised if they picked Cambone though. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-03-18 9:48:25 AM |
| #6 Sean O’Keefe. NASA!? dont forget. pre 9/11 this admins top defense priority was missile defense. Also O'keefe ia a finance guy, not a rocket head - his job at NASA was to do more with limited funds. Hed be picked for his bureaucratic skills, to handle the "five-sided nut house", which apparently Wolfie wasnt so good at. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-03-18 9:47:26 AM |
| #5 To lose the Pentagon just as we’re starting to reclaim State would, obviously, be a giant mistake. what you mean "We" kemosabe? :). IE, you assume Condi on the one hand, and Wolfie-Feith on the other, are the same team. While Im not sure if there is policy distance between Condi and the neocons, theres almost certainly bureaucratic faction distance. It really looks like Condi is attempting to takeover DoD, while cleansing State of potential troublemakers like Bolton. Theres certainly evidence that Condi was not completely keen on Rummys approach - OTOH Im STILL not convinced Wolfie and Rummy saw eye to eye on everything. I still see Wolfie as more of a neocon idealist, and Rummy as more of power player unilateralist. Again, OTOH, i could be reconciled to the change in personnel. Sometimes having the exactly right policy is less important than having a united policy. In Dubya1 you had Powellite soft realists, Condi hard realists, Wolfie soft neocons, and Rummy-Cheney hard neocons ( to invent a categorization) pulling in different directions, and often undermining admin policy. Dubya2 is looking like Condi uber alles, which may mean alot less of the admin tripping over its own feet. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-03-18 9:36:38 AM |
| #4 It is an unconventional concept, if the President is "infiltrating" these institutions in hopes of co-opting or *ahem* getting them in line -- and so far the bad guys are saying all the right things: "[T]he determination of the United States to maintain its control of the World Bank, not to develop its original mission, which is to promote development, but to integrate it into its political-military strategy." - Jacques Nikonoff, head of the French branch of anti-globalization group Attac "The administration in power will put people in charge who fit their world view, so clearly the Bush administration is going to put a Bush appointee into its little fiefdom at the World Bank." - Matt Phillips, head of public affairs at Save the Children UK "[A] disaster for sustainable development, as we fear Wolfowitz will serve US interests first." - Greenpeace International MISSION COMPRETE! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2005-03-18 9:04:33 AM |
| #3 Think Bono might get it? You know, as a consolation prize? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2005-03-18 7:50:52 AM |
| #2 That's the question, isn't it? Is Bush seeding other institutions -- broadening the war, brilliantly playing offense for defense against the tranzi elite as he's done against Islamism -- or falling back to some level of status quo ante? We'll see by whom he puts in their place. |
| Posted by: someone 2005-03-18 4:33:11 AM |
| #1 Is Wolfie's appointment to World Bank the first step in getting rid of Rumsfeld? I guess we'll know after Wolfowitz gets confirmed... |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2005-03-18 1:09:31 AM |