In all fairness to him,he is the Sec. of state,making an official statement-so this cannot be seen as his "personal view".His views pretty much reflect the dilemma over Taiwan in Washington.For all those who think otherwise,a simple question-how much real movement has been made by the Bush admins to sell Taiwan Aegis equipped destroyers & 8 D/E subs??The blunt fact is that Taiwan may never get those 8 subs as no European nation is willing to provide a design for US builders & the PRC will be real pi**ed if Taiwan is sold the Aegis system.In short,I really don't see a big contradiction between policy on the ground & Powell's statement.
Fire that idiot.
Offer the job to Rudy.