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Originally Posted by dalakhani
Uh, Rupert, we werent talking about right NOW. We were talking about 2001. This was the quote I replied to:
I would say the same for the Bush Administration. Bush had what appeared to be one of the sharpest foreign policy teams ever assembled.
Baker IS an extremely capable man. Unfortunately, Baker was not apart of this all star foreign policy team that you were referring too. He entered the picture after the damage had already been done and despite being urged, Bush never put him in in place of Rumsfeld.
Rumsfeld had a reputation for being extremely smart and capable? Are you joking? He had a reputation for being with the Carlyle group for 20 years. LOL. Rumsfeld pissed off many from the minute he walked through the door of this administration.
Cheney? You mean the twice convicted Drunk driver? Or the guy that had FIVE draft deferments? He had an agenda and that he was capable only of war and NOT of diplomacy of any kind. Again, capable in the eyes of whom?
Colin Powell? He was a tremendous failure and completely unqualified for the job. His asset was his popularity within our country and that doesnt help too much in dealings abroad.
What is the common denominator? All these men had defense backgrounds. And this is what you call one of the finest foreign policy teams ever assembled? The agenda was war and that was all these guys were good for. and as it turns out, they werent very good at that.
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I was not implying that Baker is part of Bush's team. I was just giving him as an example of a person that is well respected to see if you would at least agree with that, which you do. Then I was saying that I think that Cheney and Rumsfeld were very well respected too. I guess we disagree on that. I think we disagree about Powell too. I think he was very well respected at the time. Powell was hardly a controversial figure. He was one of those guys that everyone liked. He was considered to have a done a great job as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs during the first Persian Gulf War. He was Stormin' Norman's boss.
By the way, what was the confirmation vote on Rumsfeld when Bush named him as sec of Defense? I don't think there was much opposition to him.
I don't know if you are aware how successful Rumsfeld has been in the private sector. He was brought in as CEO at a few different companies that were not doing well. He totally turned these companies around. He couldn't be any more successful. I believe he's worth well over $100 million. If you don't think he's an extremely bright guy, you are kidding yourself.