Eagleburger to join U.S. Iraq study group (replacing Gates)

[sabra]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N10277240.htm

Eagleburger to join U.S. Iraq study group

WASHINGTON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Lawrence Eagleburger, who briefly served as secretary of state under President George W. Bush's father, will replace Defense secretary-designate Bob Gates on the blue-ribbon study group that is expected to recommend a new U.S. approach to Iraq.

The announcement was made by the United States Institute of Peace, which is coordinating the study chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker, a Republican, and former Rep. Lee Hamilton, a Democrat.

Bush and Democrats -- who won control of the U.S. Congress in Tuesday's elections -- are looking to the study group to chart a new bipartisan course on Iraq, where more than 2,800 U.S. troops have died since the 2003 invasion.

Opposition to the U.S. presence in Iraq is seen as a major reason for the Democrats' defeat of Bush's Republican Party which saw them take back control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

[skooooo]

1. Is Eagleburger preferable to Gates?

anyone know?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

13. Yes (I know)

They both suck.

If forced, Larry by a nose.

[lapfog_1]

2. the boys are back in town

the boys are back, the boys are back.

[RedEarth]

3. Another one of daddy's boys

[Mojorabbit]

4. For God's sake

why are they dragging out all these old men. Aren't there enough new intelligent people in this country who can bring a fresh spate of ideas to the position we are in?

[tabasco]

24. Not in the republican party.

That is why they are doomed. The population is getting younger.

I think the robber barons felt like this might be their last smash and grab with the US Treasury.

They seem to be able to fool enough people every generation to do it again, though.

[Lil Red]

26. That's the problem.

They would bring fresh, NEW ideas instead of retreading the old (Straussian) ones. The neo-Khans, Republican and Democrat, are deeply invested in the OLD ideas.

[acmejack]

5. Read this CFR interview and ask me that!

Lawrence S. Eagleburger, a career foreign service officer who served briefly as secretary of State in 1992 under President George H.W. Bush, says the potential spread of nuclear weapons to Here is the introductory bio:

snip>
North Korea, Iran, Iraq— and possibly to terror networks— is a “Pandora’s box that, if it isn’t opened yet, is damn near close to it.” Keeping the lid on may require collective military pressure. In North Korea’s case, he says, “If that means that there is a threat of war in the peninsula, so be it.”

He also says that he supports the current Bush administration’s foreign policy, which he says “marks a substantial and intentional shift from the traditional ways of doing things.” He adds: “There is no question but that this administration is much less interested in multilateralism than its predecessors were.”

Eagleburger, currently chairman of the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims.

Great quote from the Interview:
"I hate it when people say “use diplomacy.” I don’t know what that means and never have known. If what that means is we talk to the Chinese and the Russians and the Japanese and do what we can to persuade them all that something has to be done collectively, okay. I cannot believe that the Chinese want a nuclear North Korea. We can pursue that course for a while and see whether there is anything we can do to collectively deal with the problem."

http://www.cfr.org/publication.html?id=6137

[Boo Boo]

7. Was just about to post that one. Lots of crow to be eaten there!

Clearly, Eagleburger is team player. I don't know if he's a Neocon, but he obviously supported the policy when he thought it was expedient. I'm not impressed. He doesn't seem like a particularly insightful person.

Not sure why he's being added to the Study Group. Probably just makes sure that the Group's makeup is stacked the way Baker likes it. He can be counted on to cover for the President. Baker's task is to change course while trying to preserve/restore Republican credibility on Foreign Policy. They've got to stop the bleeding before it destroys their chances in '08.

[goforit]

18. If Iraq/Iran /North Korea is the "pandora box", why did Cheney/Bush open it?

Are we going from bad to worse?

[Boo Boo]

6. Here's an article about a debate on Iraq between

Eagleburger, Wesley Clark, and Madeleine Albright:

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2005/102005/10132005/137287

Lots more Clark that Eagleburger, probably reflecting the difference in grey matter between their ears. The money quotes from Eagleburger:

"I'm not going to sit here and listen to this President Bush being criticized for using military force in Iraq."

and

"And I'm not going to sit here and apologize for our policy in Iraq," Eagleburger said, adding that Saturday's vote on an Iraqi constitution is evidence that George W. Bush's efforts are paying off.

The article is from a year ago, and it is possible that Eagleburger has changed his mind on some of that. It's also possible that when he made the remarks he was making political statements rather than policy judgements.

The article is worth reading if only for the heaping helping of no bull, straight up Wes Clark. How many political leaders in this country have you heard stand up and say, "We've got to very quickly take the military out of the lead role in every action we take around the world."

[DemoTex]

8. Lawrence Eagleburger: Halliburton board, Kissinger Associates.

Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger (1930-) was born in Milwaukee. Described as a career diplomat, Eagleburger joined the Foreign Service in 1957 and held a series of embassy, State Department, national security, and Defense Department posts before serving as Ambassador (1977-81) to Yugoslavia. He was a State Department Assistant Secretary (1981-82) and Undersecretary (1982-84) before serving as Deputy Secretary of State (1989-92) and Secretary of State (1992-93) under President George Herbert Walker Bush, becoming the first Foreign Service officer to hold the latter post.

Eagleburger serves as President of Kissinger Associates, Inc. and currently Senior Foreign Policy Advisor with Baker, Donelson, Bearman & Caldwell (a Washington D.C. law firm). As a member of the board of directors of the Halliburton Company, he is a member of the Audit, the Compensation and the Management Oversight and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Lawrence_Sid...

I am not sure this is 100% up-to-date, but you get the drift.

[leftchick]

11. oh for fucks sakes

:grr: Now does everyone get what a sham this ISG is? I predict another strongman, probably with Iranian ties, chosen to take over Iraq. So much for that democracy thingy.

[cosmicdot]

25. wonder who currently sits on the Defense Policy Board

this list is a couple years old

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/dod/dpbmembers.html

Kissinger has/had been ... a dotted line to/from Eagleburger???

imo, these 'retreads' (the Board of Directors and Trustees of Bu$hCo. Inc.) have been involved with policy decisions all along ... from the http://web.archive.org/web/20050205063607/www.nixoncenter.org/boardac.htm">Nixon Center to the Hoover Institution ... DimSon had a recent private visit with Hoover folks ... to CSIS to the Heritage Foundation and all the think tanks they all belong to in-between ... might as well just put masks of the retreads on the current faces ... afaic, it's all PR to make it appear the corporation has new vision and values when it's the same company and logo. There may be some damage control efforts due to the 2006 election results finally catapulting the propaganda and myth of any GOP mandate to rule. imo, Poppy, Baker et al have been involved all along ... and, I don't think Poppy and Cheney/Rumsfeld are at all at odds. Corporate Media loves promoting the PR.

[Tight_rope]

9. DAMN...TALK ABOUT FLIP-FLOP...BUSH WILL SELF-DESTRUCT!

[mithnanthy]

10. Everytime I see him on a news panel...

he appears to be 3 sheets to the wind. Looks like quite a drinking problem. He is just another one of Dubya's "trusted" loyal mouthpieces to continue the lies.

[Cooley Hurd]

12. I had an Eagleburger once - tastes like chicken...

:D

Seriously, another BFEE toady means the truth will be buried even deeper.:thumbsdown:

[pfitz59]

14. The deception continues....

Nothing really changes...

[bemildred]

15. They are all defense industry suit droids, I doubt there is much

they disagree strenuously about, once you omit
the Neocon KoolAid drinkers.

[Retrograde]

16. How Nixonian

One of my favorite names from the halcyon days of my youth, when we listened to the Senate Watergate hearings about as much as we did the Grateful Dead. What's with all the retreads? Hasn't the country produced any new conservatives in the last 30 or so years?

[cosmicdot]

21. glad someone else has noticed n/t

[Lil Red]

27. I think what we are seeing here is the last "hurrah"

of a dying world view. I believe that is why the "owners" (as opposed to the "owned"-not to be confused with slaves) of this defunct and disfunctional culture are engaging in acts of increasing desperation. The status quo cannot continue but, much like the buggy whip manufacturers, they are too invested in the old world to adapt. It would be pitiful if the consequences of their discompensation were not so catastrophic to all of life in general and human life in specific.

[rosesaylavee]

17. When will Ollie North

show up? Who else is missing from those 'good ol days'?

[Lil Red]

28. That's funny! I was wondering the same thing. (n/t)

[Lil Red]

29. What with Daniel Ortega winning the election in Nicaragua,

it seems like old times!

[rosesaylavee]

30. Crazy isn't it?

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[Doctor_J]

19. Are these people on parole, or did they serve their sentences?

If felons who served their sentences are not allowed to vote in Florida, why are they allowed to take huge government paychecks and set foreign policy?

[cosmicdot]

22. another good observation

not only allowed to take government paychecks and set foreign policy, but do so with Senate confirmation votes which include Democrats as well

[Az_lefty]

20. Daddy to the rescue! little georges life just doesn't change.

what a total fuck-up he is. Always has been, always will be.

[VegasWolf]

23. Daddy has to rescue little georgie AGAIN. This time it is for MURDER of

innocents in Iraq, not just failed businesses.