The many voices of US foreign policy

[Judi Lynn]

Aug 5, 2003

The many voices of US foreign policy
By Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON - If foreign leaders and diplomats appear increasingly confused about where United States foreign policy is being made, they are not alone.

From Qalqiya on the West Bank to Karbala in Iraq to North Korea, contending forces within both the administration of President George W Bush and his Republican Party are duking it out for control, and the White House seems more and more unable to impose discipline.

While the neo-conservatives and right-wing hawks in the offices of Vice President Dick Cheney and Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld, who led the drive to war in Iraq, have been put on the defensive as the costs in blood and treasure of the post-war occupation mount, they have by no means retreated from the battle.

And while Secretary of State Colin Powell has worked quietly to extend his power, particularly over the Israeli-Palestinian roadmap and dialogue with Pyongyang, right-wing elements in Congress appear determined to thwart him, even if the Pentagon's voice on the two issues has been somewhat diminished. (snip)

(snip) Similarly, as Powell and his Congressional supporters called for the administration to swiftly engage North Korea, John Bolton, the Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security who was forced on Powell by Rumsfeld and Cheney, delivered a ferocious address in Seoul in which he repeatedly and personally attacked Kim Jong-il, suggesting to some experts that he was deliberately trying to sabotage a new round of talks. (snip/....)

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(I emphasized the Bolton sentence in the last paragraph to point out something I'd never heard before: that Bolton was forced on the State Department by Rumsfeld and Cheney. CREEPY.)