Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Powell wanted to stay
You're not crazy enough to stay with them, your use as window dressing is over!
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You're not crazy enough to stay with them, your use as window dressing is over!
Colin Powell says it was always his intention to serve one term as secretary of state, but the Washington Post reports today, citing one government official "with personal knowledge of the situation," that Powell had "second thoughts" and wrote up a list of conditions for staying for a second term. These conditions included greater engagement with Iran and a harder line against Ariel Sharon.
In the end, Powell "was not asked to stay." Instead, the president seems more than content to have his close friend and adviser Condoleezza Rice move into Powell's job.
According to the Post, "Republican officials said the selection of Rice reflects Bush's determination to take personal control of the government in a second term, especially departments and agencies that he felt had undermined him in the first four years. Powell's departure is also a victory for conservatives, removing the administration's most forceful advocate for negotiations and multilateral engagement on such issues as Middle East peace and curbing nuclear activities in Iran and North Korea."
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