Replies

Larry Wilkerson, long-time chief of former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who called Katrina a "crucial insight" into the likely aftermath of a large-scale terrorist attack. "It's also given high visibility to a department of over 70,000 individuals (Homeland Security) that in my view is dysfunctional," he said.

Larry Wilkerson, claims to have had a falling out with him (Powell) over his unwillingess to go public about the neocon "cabal".

Powell’s chief of staff Larry Wilkerson says the US sanctions policy against countries such as Pakistan and Cuba is "the dumbest policy on the face of the Earth".

As Colin Powell's right-hand man at the State Department, Larry Wilkerson seethed quietly during President Bush's first term. Yesterday, Colonel Wilkerson made up for lost time.

He said the vice president and the secretary of defense created a "Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal" that hijacked U.S. foreign policy. He said of former defense undersecretary Douglas Feith: "Seldom in my life have I met a dumber man." Addressing scholars, journalists and others at the New America Foundation, Wilkerson accused Bush of "cowboyism" and said he had viewed Condoleezza Rice as "extremely weak." Of American diplomacy, he fretted, "I'm not sure the State Department even exists anymore."

And how about Karen Hughes's efforts to boost the country's image abroad? "It's hard to sell [manure]," Wilkerson said, quoting an Egyptian friend.

"If you're unilaterally declaring Kyoto dead, if you're declaring the Geneva Conventions not operative, if you're doing a host of things that the world doesn't agree with you on and you're doing it blatantly and in their face, without grace, then you've got to pay the consequences."

A 31-year military veteran and former director of the Marine Corps War College, he worked for Powell in the public and private sectors for much of the past 16 years, and he was often described by colleagues as the man who would say what Powell was thinking but was too discreet to say.

" If there is a nuclear terrorist attack or a major pandemic, Wilkerson continued, "you are going to see the ineptitude of this government in a way that'll take you back to the Declaration of Independence."

He blamed Rice for dropping her role as honest broker to "build her intimacy with the president." And he blamed whoever gave Feith "carte blanche to tell the State Department to go screw itself."

He said top officials "condoned" prisoner abuse and left the Army "truly in bad shape."

"You and I and every other citizen like us is paying the consequences," he said, "whether it was a response to Katrina that was less than adequate certainly, or the situation in Iraq which still goes unexplained."

******

New America Foundation

Transcript: Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson

http://tinyurl.com/bb6v6

******

New America Foundation Board of Directors

James Fallows
Chairman, New America Foundation

James Fallows, founding Chairman of New America’s Board of Directors, is a highly acclaimed author, journalist, editor, and media commentator. Currently a National Correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly and formerly Editor of U.S. News & World Report, Mr. Fallows is also well known to National Public Radio listeners through his weekly commentaries on Morning Edition.

Ted Halstead
Founding President & CEO, New America Foundation

Ted Halstead, founding President and CEO of the New America Foundation, is a frequent public speaker and media commentator, having appeared as a guest on Nightline, ABC's World News Tonight, CNN, CNBC, C-SPAN, and PBS. He has published broadly, including two cover stories in The Atlantic Monthly, and numerous opinion articles in The New York Times, The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times. He is co-author with Michael Lind of The Radical Center: The Future of American Politics. Previously, Mr. Halstead was Executive Director of Redefining Progress, another public policy institute that he founded to promote new approaches to economic and environmental policy. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College, and received his Master's degree from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.

Eric Schmidt

As Chairman & CEO of Google, Dr. Eric Schmidt is responsible for the overall strategy and direction of the world’s largest search engine. Prior to joining Google in August 2001, Dr. Schmidt was Chairman & CEO of Novell, Inc. and from 1983-1997 was Chief Technology Officer at Sun Microsystems, where he earned international recognition as an Internet pioneer. He was also instrumental in the development and widespread acceptance of Java – Sun’s programming language. Dr. Schmidt, who regularly participates in the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, has long been interested in public policy matters. He holds a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University, and a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Bernard L. Schwartz

Bernard L. Schwartz is Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Loral Space & Communications, Ltd., one of the world’s largest satellite manufacturing and satellite services companies. Prior to the company’s formation in 1996, he served for 24 years as Chairman of Loral Corporation. Mr. Schwartz is one of the nation’s leading philanthropists in the realms of medical research, higher education, foreign affairs, and public policy. In recent years, he has established endowed programs at the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University, at the Graduate Faculty at the New School University, and at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also a member of the founding committee of City Year New York.

Anne-Marie Slaughter

Anne-Marie Slaughter is Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Prior to that, Dr. Slaughter was a professor at Harvard Law School and its Director of Graduate and International Legal Studies. She writes regularly on law and international relations for Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Financial Times. She is the President of the American Society of International Law, and in 2000 delivered a series of lectures as part of the Millennial Lectures at the Hague Academy of International Law. A graduate of Princeton University, she also holds an M.Phil. and a D.Phil. from Oxford University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Laura D'Andrea Tyson

Laura D'Andrea Tyson was the first woman to hold the post of Chairperson of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, and subsequently that of National Economic Adviser to the President. Currently Dean of the London Business School, Dr. Tyson was previously Dean of the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, prior to which she was Professor of Economics and Business Administration at the University of California. An international authority on US competitiveness, high-tech industries, trade policy, and US-Japan economic relations, Ms. Tyson is known for focusing on "real world" economic problems that confront the nation and its international trading partners. She has published widely, including a book entitled, Who's Bashing Whom? Trade Conflicts in High-Tech Industries.

Christine Todd Whitman

Christine Todd Whitman was the first woman elected governor of New Jersey, serving two terms, from 1993 to 2000. While governor, she was instrumental in bringing about educational, environmental, and insurance reforms. Governor Whitman also served in the cabinet of George W. Bush as EPA Administrator from January 2001 to May 2003. She is currently co-chair of the National Smart Growth Council, serves as presidential appointee to the Millennium Challenge Corp., serves on the UN Secretary General's Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, and is President of the Whitman Strategy Group, an environmental consulting firm. Known as one of the leading moderates in the Republican party, Governor Whitman is author of the recently released book It's My Party Too: The Battle For the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America."

Fareed Zakaria

Fareed Zakaria is Editor of Newsweek International. He co-edited The American Encounter: The United States and the Making of the Modern World and is the author of From Wealth to Power: The Unusual Origins of America’s World Role. Dr. Zakaria writes frequently in such publications as Newsweek, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, and is the recipient of several journalism awards. Prior to joining Newsweek International, Mr. Zakaria was Managing Editor of Foreign Affairs magazine. Before that, Mr. Zakaria ran the Project on the Changing Security Environment and American National Interests at Harvard University, where he also taught international relations and political philosophy. His most recent book, The Future of Freedom: Illiberal Democracy at Home and Abroad, was published in 2003.

Steven Rattner

Steven Rattner is Founder and Managing Principal of Quadrangle Group, a private investment firm based in New York. Previously, Mr. Rattner was the Deputy Chairman and Deputy CEO at Lazard Freres, and before that an economic correspondent for The New York Times in New York, Washington, and London. He continues to write regularly on economics and public policy matters for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Times. He is Chairman of the Educational Broadcast Corporation, Chairman of the Brown University Budget and Finance Committee, and a Trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Television and Radio, and the Brookings Institution. He graduated from Brown University.

Walter Russell Mead

Walter Mead is Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and a political economist who studies the global economy and its impact on American policy and society. Mr. Mead is a Senior Contributing Editor at Worth, and a Contributing Editor at the Los Angeles Times. His writings have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Harper’s, and Le Monde. The New York Times called his book Mortal Splendor: The American Empire in Transition “required reading for presidential candidates and their staffs.” His latest book, Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World, won the Gelber Prize, one of the most prestigious awards for foreign policy writing

Kati Marton

Author and journalist Kati Marton was born in Hungary and has spent two decades writing and reporting from the United States, Europe, and the Far East. Ms. Marton, who has received several prestigious honors and awards for her reporting, has published five books, and contributed as a reporter to numerous news organizations including ABC News, Public Broadcasting Services, National Public Radio, The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The Times of London, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Newsweek. From 1995-97, she hosted America and the World, a weekly broadcast on international affairs from NPR, produced by the Council on Foreign Relations. Ms. Marton is also a director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.