WASHINGTON, 19 January 2004 — US Secretary of State Colin L. Powell wrote a heartwarming autobiography entitled “My American Journey”. But there now may have to be a sequel that only Powell himself can write. Meanwhile Powell remains one of the most popular living Americans.
President George W. Bush goes up and down in the polls depending on a variety of events. But Colin Powell just goes on in the polls unchanged. Most Europeans feel that Powell is the only sane man in this administration, and that all of the other Bush appointments are warmongers or worse.
In the last year, however, something has changed. And soon the Europeans will see the difference as well and they won’t be happy about it. A year ago Powell joined the Bush administration in saying that there was hard evidence of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. In that sense all the other members of the Bush administration had already joined the chorus well before Powell. Some thought, “well Powell must know something that the American public doesn’t know.” Ever since, all the rest of the Bushies averred that it was only a matter of time until the evidence surfaced.
Now it’s clear that there was no evidence, hard or soft, of such deadly weapons. In addition, there has been no proof of chemical or biological weapons and further, no signs of poison gas since the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988. Whatever the Iraqis had they destroyed, and it has never been seen or heard of since.
Most Americans really trusted Powell. Now they are looking for some explanation of why he changed his mind about the need for the war against Iraq.
Another problem that concerns anyone who follows foreign events, even casually, is what Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is doing to make it harder to unscramble the plight of the Palestinians. Sharon has lied repeatedly. Obviously he is going to continue to pretend that he will some day give back some of the land that he now is filling with settlers. But he has not yet given back an inch of the land.
It is becoming apparent that President Bush is not going to do anything about the Israel-Palestine issue, at least until after the 2004 election. Bush is afraid of Israel, afraid of the Jewish lobby and the American supporters of Israel. It is cowardly, it is base and it strains the credibility of the American people, the Europeans and, of course, all Middle Easterners and the entire world. Yet Powell, so far, has done nothing at all to stop this breach of America’s credibility.
Powell had an operation for prostate cancer just before the Christmas holiday. His trusted Deputy Assistant Secretary Richard Armitage took over but followed Powell’s instructions faithfully. Some small crises came and were dealt with without event.
On Jan. 8, looking refreshed after his serious surgery, Powell spoke at length with the press corps. There were no off-limits questions and the journalists came back four different times to discuss Sharon and his malign and obvious duplicity. Powell ducked every opportunity to speak up against Sharon.
Previous State Department comments about the Arab-Israeli conflict have been much more even-handed. Instead, Powell appeared to defend Sharon, saying. “he is looking for a reliable partner he can work with.” As stated by Glenn Kessler in the Jan. 9 Washington Post, “He brushed aside the concerns raised by Palestinians that Israeli Prime Minister Sharon has threatened to take unilateral steps that would prevent the creation of a viable Palestinian state.”
It will take a while for the Europeans and the Middle Easterners to realize that those who had faith in Powell have been grievously betrayed. Why has this American hero betrayed the trust of both Americans and the world so unceremoniously?
Let’s think about Powell’s own personal situation. He served twice in Vietnam and was wounded in action. The career army man became a real “American idol” in every sense of the word. He was smart, dutiful, and often spoke up when there were different points of view to be considered. When his superiors reached a consensus Powell did his job as best he could. Both in Democratic and Republican administrations Powell progressed up the ranks and carried out orders effectively.
Powell became known for what was called “the Powell doctrine.” It said that all problems should be dealt with democratically insofar as possible. If there was no other recourse except force, the US should assemble overwhelming strength before starting a battle.
In the second Clinton administration then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright complained that if Powell always had to assemble massive arms before making a move, the United States would become “a new kind of pitiful, helpless giant.” Albright was deeply disturbed that for three years the Bosnians fought alone against an overwhelming army of Serbs without anything but moral support. Finally, Albright overruled Powell and the long-overdue war to help the Bosnians took place and the Serb aggressors were stopped. Many were deeply disturbed by the three-year hiatus in which the United States did virtually nothing on behalf of human rights in Bosnia.
When the Bush administration took over, many people were upset to find that Powell had become the only person who stood up for the United Nations’ collective action, and the force of law and legitimacy. Many in the US foreign service made it clear that they found Powell to be the only person they could rely on to pursue the human rights that most Americans, regardless of party, now embrace.
When Powell made his first trip into the State Department it was clear how popular he had become. His every statement was greeted by wild applause from a normally undemonstrative audience. Suddenly the State Department, starved for funds for many years, stopped looking like an impoverished Third World country and seemed to brighten up its once-dingy halls. Everything Powell did increased morale, which had been deeply dispirited for at least 12 years.
Elsewhere in the Bush administration things have not gone as well. It became increasingly clear that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld thought mostly about cutting unnecessary weapons and bases and left Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz to deal with much of everything else, including the run-up of the Iraq war.
Wolfowitz is a neoconservative and surrounded himself with other like-minded people. Everything had to be submitted to a double test: It had to be good for Israel as well as being good for America. If it wasn’t good for Israel it didn’t happen. This is the typical credo of American dual loyalists.
The battles between the State Department and the Defense Department became monumental and Wolfowitz and his neocons won most of them. Many Americans wondered whether it would be best for Powell to resign. Others worried about what would happen if Powell left.
Would the US just go from one war to another in order to avoid having to deal with a totally out-of-control Israel? Meanwhile, John Bolton became under secretary of state for arms control and international security in May, 2001. He became increasingly influential although he stands against everything that Powell supports. Bushies said that Bolton’s job was to keep control over Powell. At first it seemed like a joke but given Powell’s most recent press conference, it may well have become the truth. If that is the case, it is time for Powell to decide that he has lost and neocons, like Wolfowitz and their hangers on like Bolton, have won.
If Powell resigns, it will be a catastrophe for Bush’s administration. It could tip the balance in the upcoming election. With Powell gone, there would be no one left to support balanced middle-of-the-road initiatives. It’s a momentous decision. Powell is a team player. If it were a small battle, that would be one thing. This is not a small battle. Instead it is a matter of Powell’s self-respect. I hope both Bush and Powell will re-think the situation. If they do not, I hope Powell will resign. He must follow the adage: “Unto thine own self be true.”
— Richard Curtiss is the Executive Editor of the “Washington Report on Middle East Affairs” magazine.
