Colin Powell 'willing to serve second term'

Financial Times ^ | June 18 2004 | Guy Dinmore

[RWR8189]

Colin Powell would be willing to continue serving as secretary of state in a second Bush administration if he were able to take a grip on the direction of US foreign policy, a senior official said on Thursday.

According to conventional wisdom in Washington, even if President George W. Bush should win a second term in the November election, Mr Powell would take the opportunity to leave office after the frustrations of being overruled on important policy decisions by a White House in the thrall of neo-conservative ideology.

"He could possibly stay on for a year or 18 months, especially if he is told that the ship of state is available at the helm," the official said.

Mr Powell, who is 67 and had surgery for prostate cancer last December, would not want to serve another four years.

The official, who asked not to be named, said there was a possibility that the influential neo-conservatives were "in complete retreat and turning on themselves" after the setbacks in Iraq, and that there would be a "massive exiting". But he also conceded that they could simply be "hunkered down" and might return.

Analysts agreed Mr Powell was an attraction for Mr Bush as a vote-winner, as well as being popular with foreign governments. A poll last month by Quinnipiac University showed Mr Powell had the highest voter approval rating by far of the national security team.

But analysts also strongly suspect that the president would not want the services of Mr Powell any longer.

Mr Bush, one diplomat said, would feel that he had been vindicated and had a mandate "of the American people and the divine spirit" - to take his unilateralist foreign policy further.

Ivo Daalder, a pro-Democrat analyst at the Brookings Institution, said it appeared that the Powell camp of "realists" wanted to stir up a pre-election debate in an attempt to sway future policy.

However, Mr Daalder said he would be surprised if Mr Powell thought he would get his way because of the power of Dick Cheney, the vice-president, who is closely associated with the neo-conservatives and on the Bush ticket.

"I can't believe that Powell doesn't realise that Cheney is part of the problem," Mr Daalder said. "And it misreads where Bush is. The foreign policy he pursued is very much his world view."

Mr Bush has been vocal in his support of core neo- conservative beliefs. Two weeks ago, he publicly attacked the "realists".

"Some who call themselves 'realists' question whether the spread of democracy in the Middle East should be any concern of ours," he told the Air Force Academy.

"But the realists in this case have lost contact with a fundamental reality. America has always been less secure when freedom is in retreat. America is always more secure when freedom is on the march."

[ambrose]

Colin Powell 'willing to serve second term'

That's mighty white of him.

[Jeff Chandler]

Colin Powell ain't no pit bull, that's for sure.

[ambrose]

Did you hear about the Pit Bull that was deported to Mexico?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1155668/posts

[Jeff Chandler]

El toro de hoyo?

[baseballmom]

IMHO, Powell is doing exactly what GWB wants him to do, and he is doing it well. He is a diplomat, and diplomats strive to find a peaceful solution whenever they can.

From what I can see, Powell is supporting the president in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, when diplomacy has failed - through no fault of Powell's. Some countries and entities won't play nice.

[ejdrapes]

When has Powell ever said he doesn't believe in the "spread of democracy in the Middle East"? After reading this line "Mr Bush, one diplomat said, would feel that he had been vindicated and had a mandate "of the American people and the divine spirit" - to take his unilateralist foreign policy further", I knew this article was bulls-t. A bunch of left-wing career diplomats - who probably never even met Colin Powell - commenting on his future plans in the Administration.