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Snares and Delusions
The Middle East is a land of surreal invention where up is down; the past supercedes the
present and blocks the future. Losses are victories and failures are always caused by somebody else. At Foggy Bottom,
they have their own reflection of this magical world. It is called the State Department Bureau of Near Eastern
Affairs. Within its ornate palaces and rich brocades there live foreign service careerists who fervently believe
that it is their duty in life to explain Arab tyrants to whoever is the current occupant of the White House and
defend well-heeled and grateful dictators against any who would destabilize their regimes or interrupt the steady
flow of oil to the great economies of the world.
Floating above this sea of tranquility is their current protector and Caliph, the Secretary of State Colin Powell.
As victory in battle is proclaimed in Iraq, the protector found himself under attack this week from the dreaded
forces of progress and change. Speaking before the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think
tank, the former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, dared fate by discussing the performance of the Near East
Bureau and calling it to account. (The text of his speech is available at www.aei.org.)
Any attack on Colin Powell is not allowed by our elitist media. On the other hand, every attack on George Bush
is encouraged. Not knowing quite what to do, the press attacked Gingrich personally and buried his criticisms in
an avalanche of "how dare he" commentary. The key point of the speech was that the State Department diplomats
were not willing nor were they able to consolidate the victory of the past month produced by the Defense Department.
Specifically:
- The State Department was about to squander the opportunity to apply genuine economic, diplomatic and political
pressure on Syria by resuming high-level diplomatic contacts before Syria had demonstrated cooperation through
action. It was the amply demonstrated Powell syndrome of easing off of pressure too early. It was also Foggy Bottom's
chronic failure due to a lack of interest if not downright opposition to advance the Bush agenda on the world stage
and instead advance an Arabist agenda in Washington.
- The State Department was about to institutionalize a stacked deck, in Frank Gaffney's phrase, by insisting
on the quartet's road map for peace in Palestine. The "quartet" is an invention that puts the United
States back in harness to international structures. Not one single lesson of the last five bitter months in the
Security Council seems to have been learned. The quartet is the United States, Russia, the European Union and the
United Nations. They seek to impose their settlement on Palestine and Israel without comment or alteration from
the principals.
- The gathering of State Department experts in Iraq support the creation of a weak Iraqi government that will
not threaten Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia or any other tyrant in the neighborhood. Their constituency deeply opposed
both a democratic society and a free market economy. These careerists have built their success on propping up dictators,
coddling the corrupt and ignoring the repression of secret police. In Ramesh Ponnuru's phrase, they advocate the
kind of pragmatic acceptance of the world just as it is that gives realism a bad name.
The other serious general charge made by Gingrich is the failure of the Department's public diplomacy. Their
public campaign to communicate U.S. positions to the world has utterly failed, he said. Gingrich called for extensive
congressional hearings within the next six months and a long-overdue rethink of exactly how the positions of the
United States are argued in the international public forum. He urged haste before the historic pattern of diplomatic
failure threatens to undo the effects of military victory.
From Secretary Powell's point of view, personal attacks by his deputy on Gingrich seem to be enough to divert the
issues raised from any serious consideration. The Department continuously engages in trench warfare unless they
are constrained by strong direction from the top. Powell has built his career on personal charisma, outstanding
character and a talent for playing the Washington game. He has not, however, ever been much known for serious accomplishment.
He appeals to people whom other administration officials cannot reach. His good cop to Rumsfeld's bad cop is a
great act and maybe even a great policy. Unpredictability scares foreign governments more than almost anything
else. Their rivalry gives President Bush two passionate choices from which to craft positions.
However, the blunt truth of the matter, Ponnuru concludes, is that while Powell is getting the applause, the hawks
are getting their way. The path of what Tom Delay calls the "neo-appeasers" is full of snares and delusions.
Powell has a media image of strength but his influence is weak. An overhaul of Foggy Bottom is not in the offing
but maybe on the horizon, as silent as a new dawn.
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