Maybe I am missing something here.
So what is the point of this charade?
All this time waste and signals to the enemy can only help the enemy, and give your opponents time to run through the streets with CNN airing their side 10 hours a day, while our troops sit and possibly loose their readiness edge while the enemy has more time to prepare.....
The point of the charade would be to have voices that have credibility with different groups ultimately giving the same message. Powell has credibility with the diplomats and doves. Rumsfeld has credibility with the hawks. But neither is ruling out war and both will end up supporting the president. When it comes time to tell the doves to sit down and shut up, Powell will have the credibility to do that while Rumsfeld won't. That's why I think his UN presentation was so effective. People would have been more dismissive of someone like Rumsfeld. I'll worry about Powell if he steps over the line and starts criticizing the President. As long as he's a good soldier, I'm willing to give the President the benefit of the doubt that he knows how to use him.