Wolfowitz Returns to U.S. Government as Adviser

GroundedSailor

Platinum Member
Feb 18, 2001
2,502
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This administration continues to recycle incompetent and dangerous people. Couldn't Condi find someone else or is she following the Bush doctrine of rewarding party loyalty as all cost?

Sounds like failure is not an option for this bunch - it's a requirement!

The sooner we see the end of this bunch of dangerous and incompetent fools the better off American will be.


Wolfowitz Picked for Arms Control Panel

14 hours ago

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Former World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz will head a high-level advisory panel on arms control and disarmament, the State Department said Thursday.

The move by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice marks a return to government for Wolfowitz, a conservative with close ties to the White House. As deputy defense secretary under President Bush, he was a major architect of the Iraq war.

Wolfowitz was replaced as World Bank chief last June after a stormy two-year tenure. His leadership was undermined by a furor over a hefty compensation package he arranged in 2005 for a bank employee who was also his girlfriend.

Wolfowitz will become chairman of the International Security Advisory Board, which reports to the secretary of state. The panel is charged with supplying independent advice on arms control, disarmament, nonproliferation and related subjects.

The portfolio includes commentary on several high-profile issues, including pending nuclear deals with India and North Korea and an offer to negotiate with Iran over its disputed nuclear program.

Wolfowitz currently is a defense and foreign policy studies expert at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank.

Controversy over job arrangements for his companion, Shaha Riza, put the World Bank's staff of 10,000 worldwide in revolt, tarnished the bank's reputation and strained relations with other countries, especially Europeans, who led the charge for Wolfowitz's ouster.

Wolfowitz was essentially forced to step down after a special panel found that he broke bank rules. He was replaced by Robert Zoellick, who had been Rice's No. 2 at the State Department and the administration's top trade envoy.


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Lemon law

Lifer
Nov 6, 2005
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One of the neocons who helped lie out way into Iraq. Re-hired by GWB&co which stinks.

On the bright side its hopefully three strikes and you are out wallowing at the public payroll pig pen. Less than a year then out on his ear.

Other then fooliani and maybe Romney, I can't think of a Presidential candidate that will have anything to do with neocons.

Which means poor ole Wolfie will probably have to go back to a stink think tank and write revisionist histories about why GWB was right.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
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The very narrow focus of neocon ideology and their emphasis on loyalty/solidarity means they don't have much of a talent pool to draw from. That's been evident from the start, and has led to a great deal of incompetence in the Admin.

Not surprising when those who claim to hate govt are running it... under the Bush tenure, incompetent govt is a self-fulfilling prophesy...

And, uhh, I think you're wrong about repubs' foreign policy team, LL- they've purged anybody who isn't of the neocon persuasion. So even if, say, McCain wins the presidency, he'll have to play with the team he has, who are neocon to their core...

It's a mistake to vote for a presidential candidate on the basis of their attributes alone. They're part of a team, so when you vote for the candidate you're really voting for their team. Just something to remember...
 

Lemon law

Lifer
Nov 6, 2005
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Then by Jhhnn reasoning, there are going to be entirely too many left over neocons in civil service positions no matter if a dem or a repub wins the Presidency.

But I am assuming that if any dem or a rational republican wins the Presidency 11/4/2008, their key policy advisers will not consist of any neocons. And once the department heads come aboard in a new administration, they can either get rid of the existing entrenched neocons, or shunt them off into meaningless jobs like counting paper clips where they can't do any damage.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
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I don't think you have a real grasp on the situation, LL- There were barely enough hardcore not-obviously-insane neocons to fill the appointed positions, so the civil service remains largely untouched. Yeh, those with sympathetic viewpoints were probably promoted ahead of the rest, and the DoJ has been flooded with fundiewhack lawyers, but the civil service aspects are largely uncorrupted. No Admin can turn the civil service on a dime. The situation wrt top level appointees is entirely different.

Like this- name some potential repub non-neocon foreign policy advisors and department heads. Try it, you'll see what I mean- there aren't any, they've been purged, and the whole apparatus of bringing candidates to the top has been commandeered. Who ya gonna get- Podhoretz? Daniel Pipes? Or just more Bush and Reaganite retreads, neocons every one?

Colin Powell *might* be rehabbed, but I wouldn't put any money on that... Both sides have to run what they brung, and for the repubs, that's neocons...
 

rchiu

Diamond Member
Jun 8, 2002
3,846
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a neo-con who architected the war in Iraq based on none existing WMD is "charged with supplying independent advice on arms control, disarmament, nonproliferation and related subjects. " Wow.......
 

GrGr

Diamond Member
Sep 25, 2003
3,204
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Heh, now there's a guy that should be tarred and feathered with the rest of them.
 

colonel

Golden Member
Apr 22, 2001
1,777
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Wow, a neocon who lied and arranged a job for his girlfriend. You are doing great Condi??
 

senseamp

Lifer
Feb 5, 2006
35,786
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They need someone to coordinate the Bush exit strategy from government. Operation Whitewash is about to begin in earnest.
In the GOP, loyalty trumps competence every time.
 

NoStateofMind

Diamond Member
Oct 14, 2005
9,711
6
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This is absolutely terrible. Fricken neocons deserve never to have any public office ever again. This is not a good sign. I need some Harvey macros to feel better. HARVEY!
 

Lemon law

Lifer
Nov 6, 2005
20,984
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Can we come up with criminal charges against Wolfowitz? Then he can join Scotter Fibby as a Felon and hence become ineligible to be placed on public payrolls. Or better yet, sue the bastard for costing us taxpayers close to trillions of dollars.
 

1EZduzit

Lifer
Feb 4, 2002
11,834
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Originally posted by: Jhhnn
I don't think you have a real grasp on the situation, LL- There were barely enough hardcore not-obviously-insane neocons to fill the appointed positions, so the civil service remains largely untouched. Yeh, those with sympathetic viewpoints were probably promoted ahead of the rest, and the DoJ has been flooded with fundiewhack lawyers, but the civil service aspects are largely uncorrupted. No Admin can turn the civil service on a dime. The situation wrt top level appointees is entirely different.

Like this- name some potential repub non-neocon foreign policy advisors and department heads. Try it, you'll see what I mean- there aren't any, they've been purged, and the whole apparatus of bringing candidates to the top has been commandeered. Who ya gonna get- Podhoretz? Daniel Pipes? Or just more Bush and Reaganite retreads, neocons every one?

Colin Powell *might* be rehabbed, but I wouldn't put any money on that... Both sides have to run what they brung, and for the repubs, that's neocons...

Here's a guy I'd like to see get another chance if he wants it.

http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2003_cr/h030403.html

US Diplomat John Brady Kiesling,

February 27, 2003.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell,
Letter of Resignation.

ATHENS
Dear Mr. Secretary: I am writing you to submit my
resignation from the Foreign Service of the United States and
from my position as Political Counselor in U.S. Embassy
Athens, effective March 7. I do so with a heavy heart. The
baggage of my upbringing included a felt obligation to give
something back to my country. Service as a U.S. diplomat was
a dream job. I was paid to understand foreign languages and
cultures, to seek out diplomats, politicians, scholars and
journalists, and to persuade them that U.S. interests and
theirs fundamentally coincided. My faith in my country and
its values was the most powerful weapon in my diplomatic
arsenal.
It is inevitable that during twenty years with the State
Department I would become more sophisticated and cynical
about the narrow and selfish bureaucratic motives that
sometimes shaped our policies. Human nature is what it is,
and I was rewarded and promoted for understanding human
nature. But until this Administration it had been possible to
believe that by upholding the policies of my president I was
also upholding the interests of the American people and the
world. I believe it no longer.
.
.
.
.
.
Mr. Secretary, I have enormous respect for your character
and ability. You have preserved more international
credibility for us than our policy deserves, and salvaged
something positive from the excesses of an ideological and
self-serving Administration. But your loyalty to the
President goes too far. We are straining beyond its limits an
international system we built with such toil and treasure, a
web of laws, treaties, organizations, and shared values that
sets limits on our foes far more effectively than it ever
constrained America's ability to defend its interests.
I am resigning because I have tried and failed to reconcile
my conscience with my ability to represent the current U.S.
Administration. I have confidence that our democratic process
is ultimately self-correcting, and hope that in a small way
our democratic process is ultimately self-correcting, and
hope that in a small way I can contribute from outside to
shaping policies that better serve the security and
prosperity of the American people and the world we share.