GHP INTERNECINE WARFARE, or What the Heck was Gingrich Up To Anyway?
"The clash of policies and personalities has added immeasurably to the tensions which emerged during the operations in Iraq and have continued in the aftermath."
sundayherald.com
Sunday Herald - 11 May 2003
Newt raises the heat in Washington's tribal spat
By Diplomatic Editor Trevor Royle
The attack arrived out of a clear blue sky and it was all the worse for coming from an allied source. While Washington was still basking in the warm afterglow of victory in Iraq there was an unexpected and vicious strike in the long-running conflict between the State Department and the Pentagon or, to personalise it, between Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. A smart weapon was used too, in the shape of former House speaker Newt Gingrich who spends his time these days working as a policy wonk for Rumsfeld while holding down a fellowship at the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI).
It was from that base in Washington that Gingrich unleashed last week's sensational assault on the 'pathetic' State Department whose 'pattern of diplomatic failure is beginning once again and threatens to undo the effects of military victory'. To his way of thinking the office is 'ineffective and incoherent,' especially in its policy on the Middle East. At the heart of Gingrich's complaint is the Israeli peace plan and the role played by the Madrid Quartet who, claims Gingrich, are creatures of the State Department and, being representatives of the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, represent 'a formula for denial of anything we've learned over the past six months'. To his credit, Powell responded in his usual statesmanlike manner but Gingrich's intervention marks a new and worrying phase in the cross-Potomac power struggle between President Bush's top foreign policy advisers.
Known for his robust views and for his antagonism towards any US participation in the Israeli road map for peace, Gingrich still packs a powerful punch, despite having spent the last eight years in the political wilderness. His membership of the Defence Policy Board gives him Rumsfeld's ear, and through the AEI he is close to other neo- conservative thinkers such as the recently disgraced defence analyst Richard Perle, hawkish editor William Kristol and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz. All are known to be suspicious about the peace plan and have supported Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's 14 objections to the proposals contained in the road map.
While the intervention was not unexpected, the rigour of Gingrich's words has surprised Washington's diplomatic community: one source called it 'a hyena attack which was less about the shortcomings of the State Department and more about the rivalry between Secretary Powell and Donald Rumsfeld'. There is nothing new in the enmity between the two men. Throughout the Bush administration they have been at each other's throats, disagreeing over the policies to be pursued against Afghanistan and Iraq and now the Middle East and North Korea. Put bluntly, Powell favours negotiated settlements or diplomacy, while Rumsfeld sees nothing wrong with using force or threatening its use.
The defence secretary also believes in attack being the best form of defence and is famous for bombarding the State Department with his Rummygrams -- memos backed by newspaper cuttings which ask demanding questions of the recipient. Not surprisingly, officials resent the interference from the Pentagon and take a healthy interest in rebutting Rumsfeld's probing. This has led to bureaucratic squabbling with officials determined to get the better of their opposite numbers, and at times it has looked as if the inter-departmental war is actually driving US policy. For example, when the State Department made clear its opposition to the presence in post-war Iraq of Ahmed Chalabi, the Pentagon responded by flying the exiled Iraqi opposition leader into Baghdad.
The clash of policies and personalities has added immeasurably to the tensions which emerged during the operations in Iraq and have continued in the aftermath. Powell favours the involvement of the UN in the reconstruction process while Rumsfeld thinks it is the work of the devil. The former likes the idea of inclusiveness while the latter is guided by the primacy of US interests and believes a coalition should only include willing members. A notable scalp was won by the State Department when its nominee Paul 'Jerry' Bremer was named as the White House's representative to Iraq. With his diplomatic background -- he has served the State Department for 23 years as an executive and an ambassador -- he is close to Powell and, with his ability to listen to other points of view he is liked by the inhabitants of Foggy Bottom, the State Department's home in Washington.
The selection was pure theatre. Rumsfeld had touted a rival nominee and had briefed journalists accordingly but when questioned about the appointment Powell counter-attacked with the thought that he 'didn't think it was going to happen'. Bremer's appointment is a counterweight to Rumsfeld's choice of retired soldier Jerry Garner but in this proxy war between the rival departments there is no time to think about casualties or wins and losses. No sooner had Bremer's appointment been ratified than Rumsfeld saw two of his nominees taking important positions in the administration of the armed forces -- Colin McMillan, an oil executive, becomes secretary of the navy while James Roche, a former executive with defence giants, Northrop Grumman, has been appointed secretary of the army.
Both are Rumsfeld men through and through and, according to Pentagon sources, both are in sympathy with the policy of deterrence and pre-emption which underpins Bush's national security policy. McMillan was close to Bush's presidential campaign and worked for Cheney when he was defence secretary while Roche, an arms procurement specialist, is a strong supporter of Rumsfeld's innovative 'lite' strategies which underpinned the operations in Iraq. The men also share a business background with Rumsfeld -- McMillan is chairman of Permian Oil Exploration Company -- and although both will sever their links, the connections will raise eyebrows, given the extent of the defence secretary's own involvement with commerce. Last week it was revealed that in addition to having links with the Halliburton Corporation, a major beneficiary in awards for reconstruction work in Iraq, Rumsfeld was on the board of Zurich-based ABB company which sold two light water nuclear reactors to North Korea.
The irony is not lost on Rumsfeld's enemies. Although the sale was in support of the previous administration's rainbow policy of encouraging North Korea to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, Rumsfeld has now changed his tune and calls the country a 'terrorist regime' which is a legitimate target for the US. The revelation of his support for the deal will be deeply embarrassing but it is all grist to the mill for the abrasive defence secretary. It also brings into sharper focus the personal differences that exist between him and Powell. Whereas the Princeton-educated Rumsfeld comes from a background in which wealth and privilege are taken for granted and seats on boards are regarded as a natural perquisite, Powell is the son of Jamaican immigrants, was educated at City College, New York, and rose through the ranks of the army by his own efforts.
With both men at the top of their professions, neither can be caught out exploiting personal differences but officials say that discussions can descend to a locker-room level with Rumsfeld being the main culprit. When Powell described the inhabitants of Kabul as 'Afghanis' his opponent took great delight in correcting him. Niggled in that way, Powell usually responds with polite sarcasm.
Creative rivalry of this kind is hardly uncommon in Washington. Indeed it is encouraged by Bush, who runs meetings in a collegiate style, revelling in the fraternity house debates which follow. Those involved know the importance of making sure that their voices are heard and, more importantly, of making sure that the last message gets through to the president. That is what makes Gingrich's involvement doubly intriguing. Not only was he dismissive of the road map, describing it as a failure, but he knows that Powell has been tasked by an unconvinced president with making sure that it works.
In other words, says the Sunday Herald's diplomatic source: 'By attacking Powell, Gingrich has taken the opportunity to fire a shot across the president's bows. He knows full well that Powell is only trying to do what Bush wants him to do. The inference is obvious: it's a matter of record that the road map represents White House thinking.' Within the State Department, Powell's officials are taking a relaxed view of the intervention, arguing that tensions of that kind are good for debate and foster critical thinking. Powell, too, has brushed aside talk of a rift between him and Rumsfeld, insisting that there is no problem and that he 'gets along fine' with his opposite number. In a recent interview he said that the position was not only normal but creative: 'Are there disagreements and debates from time to time? Of course there are. I mean, I've never been in an administration where there wasn't. But we resolve them as two people who are serving one people and one president.'
The thought is typical of Powell's understated philosophy and his relaxed view of human relationships, but it cannot disguise the fact that the war between the State Department and the Pentagon is far from over. In the weeks ahead, Powell will be directing the road map and doing his best to moderate between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Both sides are deeply suspicious of the other and Powell will have to demonstrate equal firmness in his dealings with them. He knows, too, that Sharon's supporters in Washington will be watching closely for any hint that Israel is being asked to make too many concessions. Among them will be Gingrich and his neo-conservative associates, all of them Rumsfeld's close friends. The battle continues. |
