Condoleezza Rice
National Security Advisor
Condoleezza Rice has been selected by George W. Bush to succeed Colin Powell as Secretary of State. Is this really a good idea in light of her many failings as National Security Advisor? Let's hope the Senate does it's job and carefully reviews her record at the NSC. (Updated 11/15/04 by G. Orlando)
COMMENTARY:
Joe Klein points out in Time how Bush and his advisors were so obsessed with their "strategic" response to terrorism (i.e. removing Saddam) that they tragically ignored the difficult, "tactical" details.
Howard Fineman argues that Condi Rice really doesn't know her role as national security advisor. Fred Kaplan echoes that sentiment in Slate, arguing that Condi is a lousy national security advisor.
Kenneth Walsh argues in US News that Condoleezza Rice has been an ineffective National Security Advisor, particularly in light of the influence of Cheney and Rumsfeld on Bush.
10/5/04
MORE INCOMPETENCE: Last week the New York Times detailed how the Bush administration made claims about Iraq's nuclear capabilities that were contradicted by our own intelligence. Condoleezza Rice tried to defend her statements over the weekend, yet she again displayed incompetence in the performance of her job. In today's editorial, the Times nails the issue - if Rice informed Bush about the intelligence, then Bush intentionally misled the public with his and his administration's prewar statements about the nuclear threat. If she didn't inform him and then allowed him to proceed to war on bad intelligence, then she should have resigned due to her incompetence.
11/15/04
TWO STEPS BACK: While the Bush administration received a boost with the resignation of John Ashcroft, the resignation of Colin Powell as Secretary of State, while expected, is a loss for the country. He was the lone voice of reason on the "Dream Team" foreign policy team that ended up creating the mess in Iraq. Unfortunately, Bush rarely took Powell's advice, instead relying on hardliners like Cheney and Rumsfeld. Bush and the hardliners consistently undercut Powell's efforts at diplomacy. Bush also leveraged Powell's reputation in the world to help sell the Iraq war, only to have that reputation damaged when the world learned that the WMD claims were unfounded. Powell should have resigned then. Instead he plodded on as the loyal soldier, further diminishing his hard-earned reputation. Now he's being replaced by Condoleezza Rice - one of the worst National Security Advisors in our nation's history. At State she'll merely be a rubber stamp for the hardliners, and she'll force all the "moderates" in that department to fall in line as the Bush administration tries to stifle all internal dissent. It's hard to believe, but this second Bush administration might be worse than the first one.
Latest News:
Democrats criticize Rice over Iraq War (WP)
Bush chooses Condoleezza Rice to replace Colin Powell as Secretary of State (AP)
Rice's tenure as National Security Advisor will be scrutinized (WP)
Condoleezza Rice defends her pre-war statements about Iraq nuclear threat despite evidence of intelligence available to her at the time that contradicted her claims (AP)
How the White House embraced disputed arms intelligence before the war (NY Times)
Woodward: Bush barely consulted his top advisors about invading Iraq; Powell was mostly out of the loop; Rice comes across as incompetent (Newsweek)
Text of Rice speech originally planned for delivery on 9/11 reveals that Bush team's top focus prior to 9/11 was not terror (Washington Post)
Rice public statements contradict testimony from other administration officials (Washington Post)
Condoleezza Rice seeks another private meeting with 9/11 panel, still refuses public testimony (USA Today)
Condoleezza Rice responds to criticisms leveled against Bush administration by Clark (Washington Post)
9/11 panel considers subpoena of Condy Rice, who has refused to testify in public (MSNBC)
Condoleezza Rice declines to testify in public (CNN)
Sept. 11 commission interviews Condi Rice (CNN)
Condi Rice interview with Bob Schieffer (Slate)
Condi Rice testimony transcript (Fox News)
Comments, questions and suggestions can be sent to Gerardo Orlando at editor@orlandoreport.com.
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