Re:Bolivia to file UN complaint over airspace blockade
by toyg on Wednesday July 03, 2013 @03:58PM
(#5987140)
Would that be the same State Department who sent Powell to make a fool of himself at the UN? Ok, maybe not exactly the same people, but still. The malaise is much more widespread than you think, in government and in the electorate.
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Re:Bolivia to file UN complaint over airspace blockade
by joonix on Wednesday July 03, 2013 @11:55PM
(#5989082)
Powell was the Secretary of State so I don't see how the Department itself could "send" him. He served at the pleasure of the President, who asked him to do it.
Re:Bolivia to file UN complaint over airspace blockade
by toyg on Thursday July 04, 2013 @03:18AM
(#5989540)
The Department provides an army of analysts and bureaucrats to support the Secretary, and its their responsibility that he doesn't make a fool of himself on the public stage by using incorrect or false data. It's well known that a lot of them did, in fact, push back on some of the absurdities contained in the initial documents provided by intelligence agencies [1], but when it became clear that most of the material was of that sort, they should have smelled a rat and should have told Powell the risk was too high. Your boss losing any credibility on the political and international stage is the worst possible scenario for any SD official.
[1] http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jul/15/nation/na-powell15