[dark_lord]

I truly don't understand the portrayal of this issue as "Bush vs. State." The State Department IS Bush's State department, folks. It's not some entity that exists in a vacuum, for heaven's sake. It does BUSH'S bidding.

Except that the State Dept. is full of career civil "servants" and such types who have been there for many years. They have their own agenda. They can thwart the will of a President because they can "go slow" and "passively obstruct" that which they do not want, and go really fast on stuff they do want. Plus they can quietly do things in direct opposition to the administration in power as long as they are quiet and secretive about it.

[MississippiMan]

Yes, there are plenty of liberal civil servants in State, no doubt. But I flat don't believe a State department would flat out go head to head with the President on a major policy issue, which is how this is so often portrayed on here. That's not credible.

MM