Nightmare at Foggy Bottom: Arabists panicked
at prospect of Rice's appointments
Colin Powell has long operated on the principle, "Don't rock the boat."
It was his credo at the State Department where he usually sidestepped appointments and diplomacy.
But Powell is gone, to be replaced by National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, and Foggy Bottom is scared. Nowhere is the fear more palpable than in the department's Near East Bureau. There, the fear is that Rice will bring in her own Middle East team and sideline the naysayers who opposed the war in Iraq, a vigorous campaign against Iranian nuclear weapons and the boycott of the late Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.
Powell spent much of his time protecting the Near East Bureau, particularly Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, from the rest of the administration. But Rice wants a new policy based on a bold approach to peace and democracy. She doesn't want any more winks to the Saudis or Syrians. When Bush talks about a new Middle East, Rice wants both U.S. allies and adversaries to know that he means it.
http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/ge...ges/pletka.jpg
Daniella Pletka AEI
Rice has been considering appointing Daniella Pletka, a senior researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, to be the new assistant secretary of state.
Pletka is different from Burns as night is to day. A scholar on the Middle East and former congressional aide, Pletka does not share Foggy Bottom's approach of holding U.S. foreign policy captive to pleasing Saudi Arabia and its allies. Indeed, Pletka believes that the Arab kingdom is desperate for U.S. help and is even willing, if pressed, to make meaningful democratic reforms.
The prospect of Burns being replaced by a conservative scholar as Near East bureau chief is a nightmare for many career diplomats. Department sources said many diplomats are discussing a mass resignation if Pletka is appointed. Some have been urging their Arab counterparts to express concern over Pletka's candidacy. Yes, Pletka makes no secret of being pro-Israel.
Rice has been urged to choose a compromise candidate, such as U.S. Ambassador to Egypt David Welch. The argument is that Welch is highly regarded by the rank-and-file and would win the respect of Arab diplomats.
A bigger fear to Foggy Bottom is Rice's intention to recommend Undersecretary of State John Bolton to become deputy secretary of state. Bolton, the administration's point man on nonproliferation, is the bane of every career diplomat: he speaks plainly and speaks his mind. Stay tuned.
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