Speaking of Armitage:
FEBRUARY 2003 : (ARMITAGE ON IRAN... A DEMOCRACY?) “The axis of evil was a valid comment, but I would note there’s one dramatic difference between Iran and the other two axes of evil, and that would be its democracy. And you approach a democracy differently,” —————Richard Armitage, Feb. 2003———via 2 posted on 03/06/2005 7: 55:58 AM PST by wolf24 | To 1
JANUARY 2005 : (REPORT : ARMITAGE ADMITS HE AND POWELL SOMETIMES WENT PUBLIC WITH THEIR VIEWS IN AN EFFORT TO MANIPULATE BUSH POLICY) WASHINGTON (AP) — Baring one of Washington’s worst-kept secret, Secretary of State Colin Powell’s deputy said he and Powell sometimes went public with their dissenting views to try to influence Bush administration policy. Richard Armitage, who leaves along with Powell at the end of President Bush’s first term, described the process as using the “bully pulpit.’’ “Differences of opinion are something you as a citizen and I as a citizen should value in your government,’’ Armitage said in an interview with ...[NPR]’s “Morning Edition’’ on Thursday. “You really want it.’’
Powell and Armitage, whose friendship was forged decades ago, share foreign policy views that are distinctly more moderate than those of Bush and other key presidential advisers. They also made far more use of media interviews and speeches to promote U.S. foreign policy than their predecessors. Armitage made clear in the interview that the public appearances had another design, as well — to reflect and register the views of the State Department as well as influence the shaping of policy.
“When Secretary Powell speaks or when Rich Armitage speaks, we’re putting out our views. And we will do so respectfully, of course,’’ Armitage said according to a text released Friday by the State Department. “This is what the president paid us for, to bring him our views.’’ “And, of course, he can agreee with us or not, as he chooses,’’ Armitage said.
Armitage offered no examples of specific areas or issues of disagreement, although his response was to a question that suggested that Powell and he had been at odds with other top administration officials on policies involving North Korea and the Middle East. Powell is known to have pushed for negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear weapons programs, a strategy Bush adopted after months of review at the beginning of his first term. On the Middle East, Powell sometimes sought more flexibility from Israel, than did the White House, in dealing with the Palestinians. “You don’t want a government that sees everything the same way,’’ Armitage said. “That would be bad — it would lead to bad government, in my view.’’———— Armitage says he and Powell went public to try to sway Bush [State shouldn’t agree with White House]BARRY SCHWEID AP Diplomatic Writer , Charleston Gazette ^ | 1-15-05
2005 : (REPORT: ARMITAGE ANGLES FOR RUMSFELD’S JOB...)
MARCH 13, 2006 : (WASHPO’S BEN BRADLEE FINGERS ARMITAGE) THE WASHINGTON POST’s famous Watergate editor Ben Bradlee claims that it was former State Department Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage who was the individual who leaked the identity of CIA official Valerie Plame. In the latest issue of VANITY FAIR: “Woodward was in a tricky position. People close to him believe that he had learned about Plame from his friend Richard Armitage, Colin Powell’s former deputy, who has been known to be critical of the administration and who has a blunt way of speaking. ‘That Armitage is the likely source is a fair assumption,’ former WASHINGTON POST editor Ben Bradlee said.” ‘I had heard about an e-mail that was sent that had a lot of unprintable language in it.’” Developing...-——— “WASH POST’s Ben Bradlee Claims Plame Leaker Was Richard Armitage,” The Drudge Report, march 13, 2006 | Drudge
MARCH 31, 2006 : (ARMITAGE IS ELECTED AS A NEW OUTSIDE DIRECTOR BY CONOCO) HOUSTON, March 31, 2006 -— The board of directors of ConocoPhillips has elected Richard L. Armitage, Bobby S. Shackouls and William E. Wade Jr. as new outside directors. This increases the total number of ConocoPhillips directors to 18, of which 17 are outside directors.....-————?
Conoco... wonder how Conoco’s board “feels” about Iran?
APRIL 2006 mid : (CONOCO’s ARMITAGE & SENATOR LUGAR vs RICE & BOLTON ON ENGAGEMENT WITH IRAN MEME) Only days after former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage urged the Bush Administration to engage the Iranians in talks rather than launch air strikes against their nuclear facilities (see DallasBlog story on Armitage’s remarks here), the Republican Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee echoed Armitage’s views. Here are excerpts from the Australian story which lays out Senator Richard Lugar’s position on the Iranian situation:
Influential Republican senator Richard Lugar has urged the Bush administration to change its Iran strategy, saying the US must talk directly to Tehran about its nuclear ambitions instead of pushing for economic sanctions.
Senator Lugar said Iran, as the world’s fourth-largest supplier of oil, was “part of the energy picture” and urged President George W. Bush to play “cool” and seek direct negotiations.
He said it was too soon to be pressing the international community for economic sanctions against Iran, a strategy being strongly urged by the US ambassador at the UN, John Bolton, and, more recently, by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. -——— “Senator Lugar Calls For Talks With Iran,” by Tom Pauken, DallasBlog.com, 04/19/2006
2006 : (MCCAIN CAMPAIGN STAFF INCLUDES POWELL & THE PLAME “LEAKER”...ARMITAGE) Powell and Armitage are advisors on JOHN MCCAIN’S POTUS campaign staff...———10 posted on 08/28/2006 3:27:10 PM PDT by Txsleuth | To 4
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“The senator’s [McCain] critical comments came on the heels of a New York Times article Monday about his brain trust. The accoount raised some eyebrows in foreign policy circles for giving prominence to three former government officials seen to be at odds with some of Mr. Bush’s policies abroad: the secretary of state during Mr. Bush’s first term, Colin Powell; Mr. Powell’s deputy at the State Department, Richard Armitage, and the national security adviser to President George H.W. Bush, Brent Scowcroft.” -———August 23, 2006 via Josh Gershen Staff reporter for the New York Sun
I have watched 75 minutes of this Frontline and take from it that Rumsfeld is Bad; Cheney is Worse; all former staff and reporters who are participating in this show are being treated as if their observations and memories are perfect and fair.
Since this is the meme that every Big Media outlet has been selling us since 2001, this show is just a retrospective of the story Big Media decided was the “truth”.
Bush is treated as irrelevant and almost out of the loop, while “alpha males” in his administration are infighting.