Would Your Government Lie To You?
Although it is less than a decade old the New America Foundation in Washington, DC has a deserved reputation for promoting new ideas and for helping reveal what is really going on with our government. It did so back in 2005 when Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, (USA-Ret.), former chief of staff to Colin Powell, both when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State, said in a speech at the Foundation that Vice-President Dick Cheney and a handful of others had hijacked the government’s foreign policy apparatus, deciding in secret to carry out policies that had left the US weaker and more isolated in the world. In decidedly unambiguous words, Wilkerson said, “What I saw was a cabal between the vice-president of the United States, Richard Cheney, and the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, on critical issues that made decisions that the bureaucracy did not know were being made.”
Yesterday, the Foundation did another public service when it held a conference on the future of U.S.-Iran relations. Held, ironically enough at the Dirksen (former senator who was an early hawk on the Vietnam war) Senate Office Bldg. the first panel was Ruse or Opportunity? The Provenance of Iran’s Spring 2003 Negotiations Offer. The panelists were Flynt Leverett, a Foundation Senior Fellow and a former senior director for Middle East Affairs at the National Security Council and Col. Wilkerson.
Now follow closely because this is both a bit complex but very important. Late last year Leverett and his wife Hilary Mann made the news because the CIA had blacked out portions of an op-ed they had written for the New York Times, after the White House intervened in the normal prepublication review process and demanded substantial deletions. Their op-ed simply pointed out the obvious fact that Iran was unlikely to cooperate with the U.S. over its nuclear program or other specific issues on a limited basis. Instead the only diplomatic approach that might succeed is a comprehensive one aimed at a “grand bargain” between the United States and the Islamic Republic.
Now, given recently aggressive rhetoric towards Iran by various Administration officials, not to mention actions, like the buildup of U.S. naval forces in the Arabian Sea, one might think that if there was a chance to make diplomatic headway with Iran we should all know about it. After all, if we can made headway with North Korea (a far more dangerous state) over its actual nuclear weapons program, as we heard about this week, then we should be pushing to exploit any possible opening to negotiate with Iran. And, as it turns out, we did have that opportunity. In fact, we’ve had it for about three and a half years.
Fast forward to last week. Secretary of State Rice disputed claims that the Bush administration fumbled, and that is putting it nicely, a diplomatic overture from Iran that offered a broad dialogue with the United States after nearly a quarter-century of hostility.
Now, this was a serious offer from Iran. As a Washington Post article yesterday reported the proposal had been reviewed and approved by Iran’s supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei; then-President Mohammad Khatami; and then-Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, Now bear in mind that back then Iran had no operating centrifuges, nor had it enriched any uranium. If the United States had responded seriously we might have had the Iranian equivalent of Nixon goes to China. But, sadly, we did not.
Now last week Rice told Congress she did not remember seeing the 2003 Iranian proposal, which suggested Iran was ready to discuss its disputed nuclear program, support for militant groups that the United States labels terrorists and the acceptance of Israel.
The document, faxed to the State Department in March/April 2003, back when the U.S. was busy invading Iraq, proposed direct talks, perhaps in Paris. Iraq was at the top of the proposed agenda, with Tehran proposing “active Iranian support for Iraqi stabilization…”
Rice was asked about the criticism from Leverett. “I don’t know what Flynt Leverett’s talking about, quite frankly,” Rice said. “Maybe I should ask him when he came to me and said, ‘We have a proposal from Iran and we really ought to take it.’”
Now, this is plain silly, as it is clear from previous interviews with Rice that she was familiar with the Iran proposal and seemed not to raise doubts about its authenticity. If it is true that she never actually saw a proposal as important as this one would have been, given the level of US concern about Iran, this means either that her management of the National Security Council was incompetent or that she never asked to see it.
Now, as Leverett made clear yesterday, he had left the NSC by the time the fax arrived, but he said that he knows the document was sent to the NSC. It also went to Rice’s predecessor as secretary of state, Colin Powell. Wilkerson confirmed that Powell had received it.
So among the numerous issues raised by the above is this. Our Secretary of State is either manifestly incompetent or a stone cold liar. I don’t know about you but it doesn’t fill me with confidence about effective formulation and implementation of U.S. foreign policy in the future.
[…] Is Condi Rice Stupid, a Liar, or Under Dick Cheney’s Thumb? An analyst we admire, David Isenberg, has done a fine job of summing up the most recent misrepresentations by Condi Rice. He was not, at the time he wrote this, aware of our review of “VICE: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency,” in which the authors document Dick Cheney’s explicit rejection of the Iranian porposal via the Swiss, in 2003 of negotiations. Condi Rice, as National Security Advisor, was absolutely in that loop. She is not stupid. It would appear that she is an accomplished liar, and also under Dick Cheney’s thumb. It is time for both of them to resign, or be impeached. ”This will not stand.” http://blog.psaonline.org/2007/02/15/would-your-government-lie-to-you/ Would Your Government Lie To You? by David Isenberg | February 15th, 2007 |Edit Although it is less than a decade old the New America Foundation in Washington, DC has a deserved reputation for promoting new ideas and for helping reveal what is really going on with our government. It did so back in 2005 when Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, (USA-Ret.), former chief of staff to Colin Powell, both when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State, said in a speech at the Foundation that Vice-President Dick Cheney and a handful of others had hijacked the government’s foreign policy apparatus, deciding in secret to carry out policies that had left the US weaker and more isolated in the world. In decidedly unambiguous words, Wilkerson said, “What I saw was a cabal between the vice-president of the United States, Richard Cheney, and the secretary of defense, Donald Rumsfeld, on critical issues that made decisions that the bureaucracy did not know were being made.” […]
Pingback on February 15, 2007 @ 10:47 am
The conference you refer to was cosponsored and entirely paid for by the National Iranian American Council. A series of articles on the main highlights of the daylong conference are available on our website: http://www.niacouncil.org .
Comment on February 15, 2007 @ 11:38 am
Politicians make no difference.
We have bought into the Military Industrial Complex (MIC) ever since we took on Russia in the Cold WAR.
Through a combination of public apathy and threats by the MIC we have let the SYSTEM get too large. It is now a SYSTEMIC problem and the SYSTEM is out of control.
I am a 2 tour Vietnam Veteran who recently retired after 36 years of working in the Defense Industrial Complex on many of the weapons systems being used by our forces as we speak.
There is no conspiracy. The SYSTEM has gotten so big that those who make it up and run it day to day in industry and government simply are perpetuating their existance.
The politicians rely on them for details and recommendations because they cannot possibly grasp the nuances of the environment and the BIG SYSTEM.
So, the system has to go bust and then be re-scaled, fixed and re-designed to run efficiently and prudently, just like any other big machine that runs poorly or becomes obsolete or dangerous.
This situation will right itself through trauma. I see a government ENRON on the horizon, with an associated house cleaning.
The next president will come and go along with his appointees and politicos. The event to watch is the collapse of the MIC.
For more details see:
http://www.rosecoveredglasses.blogspot.com
Comment on February 15, 2007 @ 6:24 pm
The US/UK/Israeli plan for Iran is to attack, invade, occupy and split it up into smaller parts. The West realizes that, regardless of what type of government is in Tehran, that country will remain stubborn and nationalistic against Western energy and strategic wishes. Thus, Bernard Lewis’ plan to split Iran up is currently under way, allowing certainly no room for negotiating any sort of ‘Grand Bargain’ with the mullahs.
Interestingly, it was the same Bernard Lewis who ’suggested’ that the Shah be replaced with an aging, seemingly inept, mullah back in 1978 (as per William Engdahl’s book on the history of oil and war). Said mullah betrayed the trust of his sponsors and here we are today. Lewis’ latest scheme will prove even more disastrous, as Putin has already ordered his special forces to the Gulf to protect Russian assets at Bushehr.
Comment on February 15, 2007 @ 6:37 pm
[…] • Another good run-down of Iran from the PSA Blog. My take is that Congress is not pouncing on this more viciously because they are timid about provoking a complicated engagement with the executive branch when there are big and unresolved tactical decisions about tackling Iraq. Standard Dem protocol has generally been to sit on something like this in order to whip it out when Bush is already on his knees; I call that wussy, but you know, they’re wusses. Oh wait, that last sentence didn’t sound so good on the re-read. […]
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