Powell Flies in the Face of Tradition

[Rose Siding]

The Secretary of State Is Least Traveled in 30 Years
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell hates to fly -- and it shows.

Powell is on track to become the least traveled secretary of state in more than three decades, since Henry A. Kissinger embodied the concept of the globe-trotting foreign policy guru, according to records maintained by the State Department's historian. Powell's three immediate predecessors, the records show, traveled an average of more than 45 percent more than he has.

In Powell's view, he is bringing the job of secretary of state back to its core purpose of managing foreign policy from Washington. He travels when necessary, as briefly as possible, and reaches out to foreign leaders by telephone and to foreign audiences with repeated television interviews. "His first duty is to advise the president on his foreign policy and to manage the department to execute the foreign policy," State Department spokesman Richard A. Boucher said. "That's the job. It's mostly done in Washington."
...
Some leading foreign policy specialists -- and even some State Department officials -- have wondered whether Powell's travel schedule has in some ways contributed to the United States' falling image abroad. They argue that behind-the-scenes actions, such as telephone calls, carry much less impact overseas in an era when public diplomacy is increasingly important in advancing foreign policy goals.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48010-2004Jul13.html

[Mikimouse]

1. Headline should have been more like...

"Powell Draws Flies in the Face of Tradition."

[The Zanti Regent]

2. Colin will see the problem if he looks in a mirror!

Powell is the most incompetent Secretary of State ever!

Belafonte was right...

[King of New Orleans]

3. I did not know this

I guess he was given the wrong job in the administration. Among GeeW's many flaws, he seems to be a very poor administrator too.

[delete_bush]

4. Why travel, foreign heads of state

are of no use to this maladministration.

And anyway, the corporate lobbyists will beat a path to your door to explain which policies have been pre-approved by poopy and Carlyle et al.

[Disturbed]

5. Powell's job amounts to talkin' shit.

His status is next to zero and whatever he says means little or nothing. His cred went down the toilet after his blatant lying to the UN.

[UpInArms]

6. so is Powell now taking credit for this

botched "foreign policy"?

Guess so :shrug:

[PsN2Wind]

7. Don't see how the United State's

image would improve by having the secretary go to foreign countries and tell their leaders the pResident of the U.S. sends his regards and The v.P. says "go fuck yourself".

[Spinzonner]

8. Maybe because Dubya has made and kept so many friends

nobody will invite him

[PATRICK]

9. Another campaign issue

This is a real whopper. Sure Kissinger set the jet set style to shake up the stalemated deadlocks in foreign policy abroad and there was an earlier time when the peons did all the direct contact work. Sure the 'general" might prefer the delegation style, floating above and organizing
from command central.

But this world situation vis a vis the US policy itself is worse than the Cold War. There are no friends out there, only opportunists. There are several dangerous crises in very different areas brewing unabated and the signals from DC are either unbending, mixed or oblivious. Now, more than ever should a high profile embassy by around, rallying and improving
our position. In fact Powell DID do a lot more of that in the early years, falling flat on his face when Washington Command Central immediately contradicted and humiliated their man in the field. The last elements of this abysmal failure were the failed UN votes on Iraq AND Powell's lies in that endeavor.

He can't go anymore because he has no credibility either in himself or especially as a viable representative of the Bush administration. He can't go because Command Central itself is falling apart and perhaps DC will need him more than the undone work abroad.

He never has been a Secretary of State. He never has had a role that has not been brought down and disgraced. His few successes are due perhaps to few others in the field like Armitage, in areas of no immediate interest to the Bush/Cheney mob. He is a straw man, but in such an overwhelmingly bad bushel of rotten apples hiding one more lie doesn't seem too controversial.

[Rose Siding]

10. I think you're right

His (our) loss of credibility has made him ineffectual.

And where in the world can an American official travel safely for anything less than high profile state affairs?

[PATRICK]

11. Even worse

Bushco deliberately cut off Powell at the knees at the slightest sign of deviation from their moronic schemes, in effect undercutting their own lame attempts to 'win" world support. I suppose the main disagreement was whether to stop fooling around and only use coercion and blackmail on the UN and other countries or simply cut them off from the spoils of war.

With a policy like that they don't need a secretary of State any more than any other cabinet post such as Education, Labor, Interior etc. where the lame ducks overseeing the rape and looting of their department missions look piously dumb.

[Manix]

12. ...he knows his views mean dik in this misadministration..why bother