HeXp£Øi±
Well-Known Member
By Guy Dinmore in WashingtonPublished: April 22 2003 22:16 | Last Updated: April 23 2003 0:29
Newt Gingrich, a prominent Republican with close ties to the Pentagon, on Tuesday launched a fierce attack on the State Department as a "broken instrument of diplomacy", bringing into the open rifts within the Bush administration over how to change the Middle East in the US interest.
"The last seven months had involved six months of diplomatic failure and one month of military success," Mr Gingrich said in a vitriolic speech at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, calling on President George W. Bush to transform the State Department through legislation.
A former speaker of the House of Representatives who now works as an adviser to Donald Rumsfeld, secretary of defence, Mr Gingrich is the most prominent politician close to the administration to take a public stand against the State Department in its long- running rivalry with the Pentagon.
Mr Gingrich stressed he did not want to personalise the issue and called Colin Powell, secretary of state, an "extraordinary figure".
Nonetheless, he described as ludicrous Mr Powell's plan to go to Syria next week "to meet with a terrorist-supporting, secret-police-wielding dictator". He also said the State Department had engaged in a "pathetic public campaign of hand-wringing and desperation" in the UN, and had sent officials to Iraq who had been promoted in a culture of "propping up dictators and coddling the corrupt".
Mr Gingrich also lambasted the US approach to the Middle East peace process in forming a "quartet" with the UN, European Union and Russia that could "routinely" outvote Mr Bush's position. This was a "clear disaster for American diplomacy", he said.
A senior official in the State Department said such remarks raised suspicions that Mr Gingrich's speech was motivated less by Pentagon rivals and more by the hardline pro-Israeli faction among "neo-conservatives" who want to put pressure on Mr Bush before he launches the "road map" to Israeli-Palestinian peace.
A Pentagon spokeswoman said Mr Gingrich's remarks did not necessarily reflect defence policy or opinion. However, a European diplomat said the speech reinforced the view that Mr Rumsfeld had built a position of almost unrivalled authority inside the administration, and that Mr Powell had been weakened.
Mr Gingrich blamed an "ineffective and incoherent" State Department for failing to win over Turkey's support for the war against Iraq, the success of the French counter-offensive within the UN and losing public support for the US worldwide.
Richard Boucher, spokesman for the State Department, rejected the criticism.
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentS...y&c=StoryFT&cid=1048313941099&p=1012571727162
Newt Gingrich, a prominent Republican with close ties to the Pentagon, on Tuesday launched a fierce attack on the State Department as a "broken instrument of diplomacy", bringing into the open rifts within the Bush administration over how to change the Middle East in the US interest.
"The last seven months had involved six months of diplomatic failure and one month of military success," Mr Gingrich said in a vitriolic speech at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, calling on President George W. Bush to transform the State Department through legislation.
A former speaker of the House of Representatives who now works as an adviser to Donald Rumsfeld, secretary of defence, Mr Gingrich is the most prominent politician close to the administration to take a public stand against the State Department in its long- running rivalry with the Pentagon.
Mr Gingrich stressed he did not want to personalise the issue and called Colin Powell, secretary of state, an "extraordinary figure".
Nonetheless, he described as ludicrous Mr Powell's plan to go to Syria next week "to meet with a terrorist-supporting, secret-police-wielding dictator". He also said the State Department had engaged in a "pathetic public campaign of hand-wringing and desperation" in the UN, and had sent officials to Iraq who had been promoted in a culture of "propping up dictators and coddling the corrupt".
Mr Gingrich also lambasted the US approach to the Middle East peace process in forming a "quartet" with the UN, European Union and Russia that could "routinely" outvote Mr Bush's position. This was a "clear disaster for American diplomacy", he said.
A senior official in the State Department said such remarks raised suspicions that Mr Gingrich's speech was motivated less by Pentagon rivals and more by the hardline pro-Israeli faction among "neo-conservatives" who want to put pressure on Mr Bush before he launches the "road map" to Israeli-Palestinian peace.
A Pentagon spokeswoman said Mr Gingrich's remarks did not necessarily reflect defence policy or opinion. However, a European diplomat said the speech reinforced the view that Mr Rumsfeld had built a position of almost unrivalled authority inside the administration, and that Mr Powell had been weakened.
Mr Gingrich blamed an "ineffective and incoherent" State Department for failing to win over Turkey's support for the war against Iraq, the success of the French counter-offensive within the UN and losing public support for the US worldwide.
Richard Boucher, spokesman for the State Department, rejected the criticism.
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentS...y&c=StoryFT&cid=1048313941099&p=1012571727162