This article has been chosen as a Making Sense of These Times
  FIVE STAR PIECE  

I was surprised that I hadn't seen this story about Colin Powell in the American press. Did I miss it, or is this oh so American tale too hot for the American media to handle? This is details aboout Colin Powell's war with the administration. Wow. "Colin Powell, the beleaguered Secretary of State, has delivered an angry riposte to the Pentagon hardliners responsible for his recent string of policy defeats - insisting to allies that he 'won't let those bastards drive me out.'"
-Suzanne-

July 7, 2002

Powell: 'bastards won't drive me out'
David Wastell

Colin Powell, the beleaguered Secretary of State, has delivered an angry riposte to the Pentagon hardliners responsible for his recent string of policy defeats - insisting to allies that he "won't let those bastards drive me out".

Colin Powell: does not intend to quit before the next presidential election Despite his frustration at President Bush's tendency to side with Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, on issues ranging from the Middle East to the International Criminal Court, Gen Powell is making it clear that he does not intend to quit before the next presidential election.

"He won't resign because to do so would be tantamount to admitting defeat," said a senior Washington official. "He would only go earlier if he thought he had lost the president's confidence and there is no sign of that. He thinks it is better to carry on and have some influence from inside the administration than to leave and have none."

Gen Powell's blunt observations, which are being discreetly and deliberately circulated in Washington by senior State Department officials, are the first clear sign that he acknowledges the damaging criticisms he has taken from a combination of Mr Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy defence secretary, and Dick Cheney, the vice-president.

In public he has appeared unperturbed by his setbacks but privately he has expressed concern at the gyrations he has been forced to perform amid rumours that he was prepared to resign after November's mid-term elections unless he obtained more support.

The most dramatic problem was over the Middle East, on which Mr Bush jettisoned Gen Powell's advice and declared in a long-awaited speech last month that there could be no negotiations with the Palestinians until Yasser Arafat was replaced as leader.

Just days after Gen Powell argued that America must work with the Palestinians' own chosen leaders, he was forced to do a public reverse, suggesting last weekend that Mr Arafat would be beyond the pale even if he were re-elected.

Last week the Pentagon persuaded Mr Bush to insist on a hard line over the International Criminal Court that almost led to the collapse of United Nations peacekeeping efforts around the world and which is still unresolved.

"It has made America look ridiculous," said one official. "Instead of being pragmatic and accepting the safeguards that have been won, there is an almost theological position being taken against it. It would never have come to this had Powell been able to prevail."

Officials are attempting to bolster Gen Powell's standing abroad, where many governments are worried at suggestions that he is becoming an isolated figure within the administration, with less influence over Mr Bush on key foreign policy matters than Mr Rumsfeld and Mr Cheney. Last month there were damaging rumours that the Secretary of State was planning to step down towards the end of this year, after the mid-term elections.

Gen Powell is regarded overseas as a lonely voice of moderation and pragmatism within an strongly unilateralist administration, and his departure would dismay most foreign capitals. Partly for that reason he has been the subject of a whispering campaign of criticism by conservative Republicans, both within the administration and on Capitol Hill.

The departure of the former Gulf war chief and America's first black secretary of state would also be a blow to the White House - no least because his ratings are better than those of the president himself.

A Gallup poll in early May found that 85 per cent of voters regarded him favourably, while in a Harris poll last month 79 per cent said his job performance was either "excellent" or "pretty good". Mr Bush's own rating has fallen below 70 per cent.

Friends of Gen Powell say that he is buoyed by his personal popularity rating, which he reaches for "like a comfort blanket" as proof that he is still in step with most American voters. He also receives strong support from his combative deputy, Richard Armitage, a former navy Seal who, like his boss, saw extensive military action in Vietnam.

The two men are said to share a contempt for the Pentagon's civilian chiefs, despite a superficial cordiality in public. "They are combat-hardened and that affects their outlook," said one official. "There's no love lost on either side."

Some officials believe that the outcome of the administration's debate on the Middle East is even less helpful to Gen Powell's view than at first appeared. Mr Bush's speech was at first seen as a sign that he would remain engaged in the region during efforts to develop a Palestinian state.

Now some believe that the decision to support "provisional" Palestinian statehood only after a string of preconditions have been met, will be used by the White House to "park" the issue beyond the congressional elections - and perhaps beyond the 2004 presidential race.

One former State Department official said: "I can't see why Powell is putting up with it. He is losing every argument that matters. He'd do more good now if he did resign - it might just give the White House the jolt it needs."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/07/07/wcolin07.xml


Use your browser's BACK button to return to your previous page.

Visit our other FIVE STAR PIECES.