- Colin Powell's former chief of staff at the state department
has launched a scathing attack on the Bush administration, claiming that
the vice-president and secretary of defence created a "Cheney-Rumsfeld
cabal" that hijacked US foreign policy.
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- In an address to the New American Foundation reported
in the Washington Post, Larry Wilkerson accused George Bush of "cowboyism",
and said the current secretary of state, Condoleeza Rice, was "extremely
weak". The former defence undersecretary, Douglas Feith, was dispatched
with the words: "Seldom in my life have I met a dumber man."
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- Mr Wilkerson is a military veteran of 31 years' standing
and former director of the Marine Corps War College. It is not the first
time he has been critical of administration policies, but he has never
been quite so outspoken before. The former colonel was often described
by colleagues as the man who would say what Mr Powell was thinking but
was too discreet to say.
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- "What I saw was a cabal between the vice president
of the United States, Richard Cheney, and the secretary of defence, Donald
Rumsfeld," he said. Between them they ran roughshod over the bureaucracy,
stalling nuclear diplomacy with North Korea and Iran.
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- Mr Bush, he claimed, allowed it to happen because he
was "not versed in international relations and not much interested".
He said officials "condoned" prisoner abuse and left the army
"truly in bad shape". He added: "If there is a nuclear terrorist
attack or a major pandemic ... you are going to see the ineptitude of this
government in a way that'll take you back to the declaration of independence."
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- Mr Wilkerson said Mr Powell, whom he described as "the
world's most loyal soldier", was not pleased about his decision to
go public, but said he took a different view of loyalty - not to the administration,
but to the country.
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1597461,00.html
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