Posted on 05/01/2005 4:20:59 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
WASHINGTON — When John R. Bolton charged into the State Department in 2001 as President Bush's top arms control official, he thought of himself as a loyal Republican soldier on a mission into hostile political territory, according to friends and colleagues.
That assessment became a self-fulfilling prophesy. In the course of the four years Bolton ........he had a succession of ideological and personal clashes with subordinates, colleagues and superiors.
Eventually, Colin L. Powell, secretary of State at the time, ordered his deputy, Richard L. Armitage, to keep tabs on Bolton and prevent him from alienating allies, three current and former State Department officials said. One of the officials said that he was specifically assigned to "mind" Bolton and report back if the undersecretary's activities were creating problems.
"John was a super-frustrated guy, pinioned at the wrists by Rich [Armitage], held down and clubbed regularly by his own people, and generally nullified by the secretary's skills at thwarting him," said one of the former senior officials, a lifelong Republican who said he "despised" Bolton.
Foreign diplomats who have made no secret of their dislike for Bolton said they were told by other State Department officials that they should not assume that Bolton's hard-line pronouncements on issues such as North Korea or Iran represented administration policy. In public, though, Powell and Armitage unfailingly defended Bolton and denied the existence of a rift.
The pent-up bitterness over Bolton's record at the State Department exploded after Bush nominated him to be U.N. ambassador last month, stalling his Senate confirmation hearing and inflaming debate in Washington.
...current and former State Department officials ......described an atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust spun out of Bolton's zealous policy initiatives and the efforts of others to thwart him.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
A revealing article coming from the MSM!
ping!
"The State Department in a very general sense is manned by Democrats who are hostile to President Bush's agenda, period."
Exactly right. This has been obvious for a long time. I hope Condi fires the lot of them, quietly, of course.
It is very clear that Bolton is the one who is focused on the President's agenda, and that's why State dept. was trying to thwart him.
"Although Bolton has allied himself with neoconservatives inside the Bush administration, those who have served with him say he is actually an "America first" conservative, dedicated to advancing U.S. interests and rejecting international constraints on U.S. prerogatives."
===
No wonder the Dems are against him!
Mr. Bolton is certainly the right type, exactly the man we need at the U.N. And I have to say that I am unsurprised about what is written here about Mr. Armitage's behavior at State.
You are right, it's a pretty good article, gives a good background and it's reasonably fair too.
All this makes very obvious that Bolton IS indeed the right man for the job at the right time.
Did you read the whole article....what is coming over the Times?
The State Department exposed as the pit of vipers and seems that the moderate noble Powell liked it that way.
Having worked in the government and around GS employees for over 42 years some need to have their butts chewed for not working. I would estimate that 30% have no job and do not work and another 15% do very little. The people who do do the work need to be praised and those who do not work need to be fired. But they cannot be fired, demoted or denied a pay raise so we the tax payer pay for the non workers when we should be giving the people who work more money and praise.
Yes, I did read the whole thing. It was very interesting.
I didn't see that.
"Newt Gingrich pointed all of this out last year and Freepers attacked him for it."
Was it a year ago I thought more, and yes just like Powell many many Freepers sought to destroy Newt for saying (and I thought it had been years) that the State Department had no accountability.
Powell seems little different than Clintons' in their world view.
But how's this for a plan: Order all employees to telecommute, but give them NO assignments. Then restrict all phone lines except the main numbers from receiving outside calls.
Whichever employees actually call in for work, call them in for real work. Let the rest stay home, with pay, and do nothing. Replace them all with loyal conservatives. Consider the lost salary payments to the loafers as money well spent for national security.
OK, the plan is a little loose, but you get the idea.
Which is precisely why he is so despised by the Far Left and the media. He actually has America's interests in mind, NOT the pusillanimous wankers of the "international (commune)ity."
A Baltimore native and lifelong conservative who was a student organizer for Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign, Bolton, 56, has worked for former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and in the administrations of Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush
BS!! Most of those are commie/pinkos. Many are the same guys that McCarthy warned us about and the same guys the media and Congressional leftists protected.
I do note that that sleaze Boucher is no longer the State Department spokesman. I don't know if he has been replaced or has just gone to Beijing for recurrent training. That was one of the things about Bush that was a negative, his refusal to purge all the criminal Clintonistas left over from Willie's sewer.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.