State Department Undermining President Bush

TownHall.com ^ | 5/21/03 | Joel Mowbray

[kattracks]

Speaking to a group of Palestinians and left-wing Israelis in Israel recently, a high-ranking State Department official took the time to disparage the “conservative” and “Christian” supporters of President Bush, his ultimate superior.  The incident is revealing not just in showing the contempt members of the Foreign Service have for Bush, but how urgent the need is for the White House to push for reform at Foggy Bottom.

  At a May 4 meeting attended by several Labor Party officials, activists from left-wing Peace Now, and several officials from the Palestinian Authority, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns candidly discussed the U.S. political dynamic with respect to the “roadmap” for peace in the Middle East.  The U.S. diplomat pointed the finger at supporters of President Bush, indicating that “conservative and Christian viewpoints” were the main obstacles to peace.

  One of the participants remarked to Burns that supporters of Bush “are lobbying to torpedo the ‘roadmap’ and suggested that the Americans should help us [the Peace coalition] to express our views to the American public.”  Burns’ response?  “The common sense of all peoples will override the conservative and Christian viewpoints once they see the roadmap’s potential.”  Burns seized the opportunity to take a potshot at the “viewpoints” of the President’s strongest supporters, claiming that they will be “overridden” by “common sense.”  Hard to misread it.

  Which might explain why the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem’s original defense was not that Burns didn’t make the comment, but rather that the meeting was supposed to be held in secret.  That’s likely true—it was closed to the media, but Peace Now activists were so excited that a senior U.S. official agreed with them that they publicly distributed the minutes of the gathering—but it doesn’t change what Burns actually said.

  Many inside the administration are outraged.  Sensing that it needs to defuse the matter, State’s official response when asked for comment last week was: “It is simply untrue that Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs William Burns made disparaging statements about any groups at his meeting with the Israeli-Palestinian peace coalition last week.”  But a State Department spokesman pointedly refused to dispute the accuracy of the minutes of the meeting provided by Peace Now, meaning State’s beef is with the interpretation of the comments.  State even echoed Burns’ comments when, later in the same prepared statement read over the phone, the spokesman noted that “common sense” would be the key to peace in the Middle East.

  Foggy Bottom is filled with a festering contempt for President Bush, so it should come as little surprise that one of its top officials would—on foreign soil—take a swipe at Bush’s political base.  State Department officials are willing to criticize the President in the domestic press as well, albeit anonymously.  One “young diplomat,” as the Los Angeles Times described the official, whined to the paper recently, “I, like many others, am carrying a great deal of anger and at times even shame over the way we as a nation are conducting ourselves.”  That same article quoted a “mid-level State Department official” as blaming Bush personally for a “massive failure of diplomacy.”

  For a variety of reasons, the White House has paid little mind so far to personnel decisions at State.  There are but a handful of true political appointments in important positions at Foggy Bottom, as Colin Powell has made good on his original promise to promote and enhance the role of careerists.  This must change.  Now.  Reform cannot be engineered by the same people who have populated State for decades.

  To be sure, change will be, at best, plodding and partial.   In the meantime, State has other work on its plate, namely the latest rash of murderous bombings in Israel.  With Palestinian terrorists murdering innocent Israelis, not even “common sense” will bring peace to the region.  But in a hopeful sign, the State Department for the first time used the term “homicide bomber” to describe this weekend’s attack—more than a year after the White House first embraced the word choice.  It may only be a word, but with the State Department, you take what little change you can get.

©2003 Joel Mowbray

Contact Joel Mowbray | Read Mowbray's biography

[Brian Allen]

<< Newt [Knows] ..... these trouble makers from state are career civil service employees. >>

Newt both needs political viability and underestimated the ability of the Evil manifest in State's Brahmanas to ally folks like you.

And to rally all y'all to their defence.

Where would Evil otherwise be should Good Men not be enthralled into doing nothing?

[And, just as Our Nation's Founding Fathers warned would be the case, All our enemies of note have ever been and shall ever be "trouble maker ..... career civil 'service'" dole recipients. Whose own masters noted will sell Evil the very rope with which they and it hang US!]

[Miss Marple]

No one is defending the clymers at State, many of whom are Clintonistas embedded in the Civil Service during Clinton's last year in office.

It is appropriate to question the actions of these people. It is NOT appropriate to question Powell's trip to Syria and dump on Powell, the President's Secretary of State, in public. It is a direct criticism of the President, who ordered Powell to go.

Newt makes some good points about revamping state, but he couldn't confine himself to the bureaucracy, but went to far. THAT is what people are criticizing.

[Grampa Dave]

If you think that I'm rallying support for the professional clymers in the State Department, you need to run to your doctor and have your meds tritrated up!

You and Newt need to drop that electronic rope that both of you are dragging around and trying to put around SOS Powell's neck. All the quotes of great historical statements does not erase the reality of the ongoing attemp to electronically lynch SOS Powell.

[hchutch]

Newt was wrong to go after Powell. Powell is NOT the problem, or even part of the problem. The problem is the Clintonistas, who ARE setting up friends to take the fall. The problem is, Powell's going to have to take fire from the likes of Senator Dodd to fix the mess, and that's not going to be fun.

The thing is, it is out in the open, and Gingrich's 2-by-4 to Powell's head GOT it out in the open. Mowbray's article is dead on target as to the real problem. Let's not lynch EITHER Powell or Gingrich, and instead begin targeting folks like Mr. Burns, shall we?

[Jeremiah Jr]

And people call us dumb? HA!HA!HA!HA!HAAAAAAAAA!

Dixie Chicks laugh at Burns

[Miss Marple]

OK...but I sometimes wish Newt had just the tiniest smidgen of diplomacy.

[Courier]

In America today, when a twit Dixie Chick makes a disparaging remark concerning the President, the constituents are riled to bonfires of CD's.

When an influential bureaucrat, paid by American taxpayers, disparages those who are the President's greatest supporters, and also by inference the President and his policy, not even the expense account of this bureaucrat is effected.

The is no daylight between the views of the UN and the views of the State Dept.

If they moved in together we can save in these days of deficits.

[hchutch]

Sometimes, you gotta take a 2-by-4 to someone's head to make `em see the problem exists.

[mabelkitty]

Do they fall under the Homeland Security Department? Since they are domestic terrorists who pass out visas to foreign terrorists, I would have thought so.

[mabelkitty]

Do they fall under the Homeland Security Department? Since they are domestic terrorists who pass out visas to foreign terrorists, I would have thought so.

[MeekOneGOP]

bttt for later read. Thanks.

[Quix]

her unroyal lowness,
her hideous heinous--
Bwitch Shrillery Antoinette
de Fosterizer de sh*t-flinger
de Back-stabber de Power-Monger-Extreme
de Commie-Marx-butt-kisser
de Black-Panther-arse-kisser
de Reno-suck-face de Bitterness-personified
de Vengeance-multiplied
de Felonious-traitor-incorporated
de Sade

And company are notorious at having broken, shattered mirrors; 0.0000000000000000000000000000% insight; 0.0000% awareness about the REAL [not to mention the REAL IMPORTANT] values and priorities of LIFE [not to mention ETERNAL LIFE].

And then vacuum headed motor-mouthed cachophanies are treated as attractive???????????????????

Go figure.

Sigh.

[Enemy Of The State]

lol...your killin me

[Enemy Of The State]

Bump!
Thanks for the ping!

[Quix]

Only with laughter, i hope!

[Enemy Of The State]

lol..of course :-)

[WVNan]

This problem sounds like one that Free Republic might do well to spotlight for some attitude adjustment. Where do these guys hang out? Do they have a headquarters in D.C. where they could be freeped on a regular basis in order to call attention to their "progressive" ways?

[Brian Allen]

<< The is no daylight between the views of the UN and the views of the State Dept. >>

Of course there is not!

The un created by Hess and all of the other imbedded Soviet agents -- and at the express order of and in the exact image of state's then Soviet Masters -- is state's clone.

State is America's principal primary enemy.

And Bush-Family Blind-Spot occupant, Peter-Principle Powell wears it like a skin!

[Quix]

BY ALL MEANS,

PLEASE, PLEASE,

FEEL FREE TO ADD ANY ADDITIONS YOU SEE FIT TO

her unroyal lowness,
her hideous heinous--
Bwitch Shrillery Antoinette
de Fosterizer de sh*t-flinger
de Back-stabber de Power-Monger-Extreme
de Commie-Marx-butt-kisser
de Black-Panther-arse-kisser
de Reno-suck-face de Bitterness-personified
de Vengeance-multiplied
de Felonious-traitor-incorporated
de Sade

's

'name.'

[shaggy eel]

,,, reality comes home to roost. The most dangerous type of person on this planet is actually a bureaucrat. I've said it before and I'll BUMP it again.