Posted on 11/07/2004 7:56:22 AM PST by SJackson
This past week America went to the polls to vote for a president. However, we Americans never get to choose our Secretary of State. Now that President Bush has won a mandate for a second term, it's about time he cleaned house -- paying special attention to the cabinet.
To say that many of us are upset with his choice of Colin Powell would be an understatement. Mr. Powell is a relic from two administrations back who helped lead the US into allowing Saddam Hussein to remain in tyranny.
Add to Mr. Powell's ignoble history his statement to the Arabs occupying Jewish Palestine to "tone it down" after they blew up scores of innocent Jewish civilians. And then there are his speaking fees.
It is not illegal for Mr. Powell to collect speaking fees before he serves as Secretary of State. But what is questionable at best is the size of said fees and the sources thereof in regards to Powell's governmental service. Shortly before he was appointed as Secretary of State, Colin Powell delivered a speech at Tufts University. His speaking fee was paid for by Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares.
Mr. Fares, aside from being the Deputy Prime Minister of Lebanon, is also a businessman with close ties to the repressive Syrian government. Mr. Fares, in his capacity as a government official, personally called on Washington to remove Hizbullah from its terrorist list on November 10, 2001.(1)
Referring to the Islamist taint surrounding his speaking fees, Mr. Powell stated, "I don't know anything about those ties or if any such ties exist or whether I should be troubled by them."(2)
If Mr. Powell was so unaware of the Machiavellian doings in the Middle East, if he would rather take a walloping speaker's fee -- reported to be $59,000 -- and not ask any questions, what is he doing as Secretary of State?
Then there is Powell's statement regarding Israel's attack on a Hamas terrorist cell. He said it was "excessive," "reprehensible," "highly provocative" and "too aggressive."(3) Did Mr. Powell say the same thing about the genocidal attacks upon innocent Israelis? Nope. He said, "Tone it down."
Mr. Powell is single-handedly making President George Bush look like a fool and a hypocrite. Right after 9-11, Mr. Bush stated "Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists." By refusing to utterly condemn Arab terror against Jews living in their legal and sovereign homeland of Israel, by condemning measures to stop terrorism and castigating those who do -- but only if they are Jews or Israelis -- Mr. Powell is undermining US policy and showing an incredible and unacceptable prejudice against a sovereign nation on the receiving end of terror.
Then there is Mr. Powell's attitude towards Israel and Jews in general. He has often stated that he supports Israel and likes the Jewish people. He even claims to know some Yiddish. Hah! My mother spoke German, but that didn't make her an ally of Hitler.
As to his support for Israel, Colin Powell's behavior is anything but supportive. He continues to pressure Israel to make unbelievable concessions. He wants her to expel her own people from their homes and turn it over to Arabs committed to perpetrating genocide upon the Jewish people. Through his criticisms of Israel's passive barrier against terror, as well as his harsh criticism when Israel goes after terrorists, he has shown that he wants Israel not to defend herself. He has also, by his silence or mild reproofs, demonstrated his acceptance of genocide against an entire people.
Yet, at the same time, Mr. Powell has shown nothing but restraint and support for the Arab genocidal monsters, never demanding anything more of them than to "tone down the violence." For some reason, Powell even thinks that these Arab rejects-from-their-own-countries merit Israel giving up a large chunk of her tiny self. Apparently, he is ignorant of the statement by PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein:
"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct 'Palestinian people' to oppose Zionism.
"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beersheba and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."(4)
Do we want an ignoramus running the US State Department? Not only is Mr. Powell ignorant of the true facts regarding Israel and the Middle East, he seems to pull a 'John Kerry' and flip-flops to please whomever he happens to be addressing.
On Fox News Sunday, Mr. Powell stated, "I think it's a real problem when you incentivize (sic) in any way suicide bombings."(5) Yet, Powell persists in pushing Israel to give up chunks of her rightful territory and expel her own people, while the bombs continue to blow up Jewish families and the Kassam rockets continue to fall.
However, this article is not merely a rant; there is a savvy solution beyond getting rid of that stain upon the Bush Cabinet: Colin Powell. The US needs someone who has obvious legal knowledge and experience in dealing with foreign leaders. It needs a straightforward man who can handle extreme pressure and manage urgent crises with fortitude, finesse and aplomb. Israel also needs a man who is not tainted with Arabist partisanship to head the US State Department.
Luckily for everyone, such a person exists. His name is Rudy Giuliani and he is the former Mayor of New York City who served during and after 9-11. In 1981, before becoming mayor, Mr. Giuliani was named Associate Attorney General, the third highest position in the Department of Justice. As Associate Attorney General, Giuliani supervised all of the US Attorney Offices' Federal law enforcement agencies: the Bureau of Corrections, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the US Marshals.
In 1983, Giuliani was appointed US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he fought (among other things) government corruption and had a record of 4,152 convictions with only 25 reversals.
As the former Mayor of New York City, which houses the UN headquarters, Mr. Giuliani is comfortable meeting with foreign diplomats. He has a sterling record and is proven to take no nonsense. He is also a Republican and would be a good choice for presidential candidate when Bush's term is up.
Therefore, I urge President Bush to distance himself from that compromised liability -- Colin Powell -- and replace him with Rudy Giuliani.
Notes:
(1) www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30322 (2) archives.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/09/powell.speech (3) www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=23963 (4) www.worldnetdaily.com/news/printer-friendly.asp?ARTICLE_ID=28222 (5) Dore Gold, Hatred's Kingdom, p201.
From CNN Capitol Hill Producers Ted Barrett and Dana Bash
January 9, 2001
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Secretary of State-designate Gen. Colin Powell on Tuesday defended a speech he gave at Tufts University shortly before the election that was funded by a Lebanese government official who is also a businessman with close ties to the Syrian government.
"There should be no concern on anyone's part that it influenced me in any way," Powell told CNN after attending a Capitol Hill meeting regarding his confirmation.
"That's what I did for a living, I gave speeches," he said. "So there is nothing nefarious about this."
If confirmed, Powell may have diplomatic dealings with the Lebanese official.
"I was a private citizen at the time," he said. "It was before the election and I had accepted the speech even before the primaries."
The retired general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he did not know that Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares had ties to Syria.
"I don't know anything about those ties or if any such ties exist or whether I should be troubled by them," Powell said.
Powell described Fares as a "very generous man who endowed an educational program" that paid him to speak to students at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Fares is a member of the Board of Trustees at Tufts.
"It was a contract with Tufts University. My support for Israel is well-known. My contacts within the Jewish community are well-known. This is a story that has taken some life, but there really is nothing for anyone to be worried about," Powell said.
"All these suggestions about a Syrian connection, I don't know anything about those and I'm not sure what is being alleged," Powell said.
Later, at a meeting with Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Delaware, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee -- which is charged with holding hearings on Powell's nomination -- Powell expressed concern that Fares' name was being "sullied."
"It's rather unfortunate that there is some suspicion created that there was something untoward about the arrangement, something untoward about my participation or Mr. Fares," said Powell.
Biden said the speech gave him no cause for concern.
"What the general says -- I would believe him just because he said it. But if I had any doubt about it, there is nothing inconsistent with my understanding of how lecture series fees are paid and how these things are done with anything the general said," said Biden.
Powell volunteered that the $200,000 speaking fee for the speech, as reported in the Jerusalem Post, was overstated.
"If the fee quoted in the paper was accurate, I wouldn't be here today. I'd be out there doing that," Powell quipped.
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It's time for Powell and Armitage to go and time for that nest of vipers at state to be thoroughly cleaned out! Porter Goss pay attention...you've got an even more vicious nest at your new home.
I continue to repect Colin Powell. I even met him once, and he is a very impressive presence in a room. His calm confidence is exactly what the Sec State should be.
He has always served the president, and to say otherwise disrespects Bush as much as Powell, to suggest has no control over the policies of his own cabinet.
I have never understood the good esteem enjoyed by Powell. He has always struck me as a quota hire who got lucky.
I'll bet you have no problem with the huge speaking fees
Bill Clinton gets, though. That's different because HE'S Bill! If HE takes money from a professed enemy of the U.S.
(and he DID!)...that's ok in your book. What Janusian
reasoning!
BTTT
Bump for later
Of coure I don't. I've posted that here frequently.
Did you go to school to learn to make ignorant comments, of did it come naturally?
bump
Specter and Powell both need to go.
I'm sorry, seems like a hit piece against Powell. I believe little of it, and the source doesn't strike me as particularly objective either.
Could you be more specific please?
Hmmmmm...
I'm all for kicking the Affirmative-Action appointee, Colon Bowell, to the curb, but...
Replacing him with Rudy???
That one I'd have to think about.
What's not objective? Powell was frequently "backed away" from statements made by GWB regarding the middle east. It's been discussed here ad infinitum. Either Powell or Bush are attempting to play both sides of the issue. I'd agree with the author (a Jew living in NY, clearly not objective) that it's Powell. IMO we'll know soon, as either he stays or goes.
I don't always agree with Powell but I think he is part of an anchor that helps the president hold the center. Rushing to toss centrists overboard seems to be an attempt to replicate the mistakes of the democrats. Personally I prefer to learn from those mistakes.
Criticism equates with disrespect? A rather toltalitarian view when applied to government.
I'd agree with that.
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