There are two issues here - One is Powell's fitness for the job and two is the fitness of ANYONE with a military background to lead state.
IMO, Powell is the most over rated national icon we've seen in ages. Pentagon generals may have admired him for his political cunning and new recruits may easily buy into the Powell Myth but rank and file career soldiers I've known (and I've known a few) don't hold him in such high regard.
This latter group, frankly, didn't think him fit to lead the military.
This group, including myself, wonder how he will do in his new job.
It is my personal view that he will be the first
key Bushie to leave the building. In this light, I did not find the story to be a personal smear against Powell.
The point of the piece was - what in the hell is a military guy doing at state. There is a historical institutional divide, as I'm sure you know.
See the last paragraph of the story and see also the little poll offered to the reader. The basic question: is Powell the right guy for the job OR is a military man unfit for the job.
Anyway, my long-winded point is that the smear campaign is within State and has little to do with Powell, the person. |
