Powell has put some daylight, between himself and the President. Normally, that'd be a career-ending move. In this case, it may be a career-saving move. He wouldn't do that, unless he had a very, very good reason.
Lots of wedges being driven here, between the various players. This is how cover-ups unravel: nobody wants to be the fall-guy, so they rat on each other. The interests of Powell, the CIA, the President, Blair, the British Intelligence community, everyone is looking out for Number One. They used to all be on the same team, all saying exactly the same thing, carefully coordinating statements (or, in the case of the Intelligence people, saying nothing and leaking nothing). Now, almost daily leaks (requiring almost daily denials).
I wonder who the "Senior administration officials" are? Powell, and someone else high in the State Dept or CIA, probably. Those are the two parts of the U.S. government most pissed-off. |
