Thursday, May 11, 2006

Armitage: an element of conscience

* emptywheel: "Here's my own list of Pioneers and Rangers who have been caught in dirty dealings..."

* mimikatz adds: "The whole GOP philosophy is against using government as a tool to influence or modify behavior (unless it is sexual behavior, in which case the hand can't be too heavy for them). They got control of government not to implement policies as such, but to create new business opportunities for their supporters. Some were through rigging or deregulating the markets (Enron), some were through making government contracts available to the clever and unscrupulous, and then there was war profiteering, Iraq, Katrina--the list is endless."

* via rimone: "Bush Administration officials insist they have no idea how a minute-by-minute schedule for the President's trip to Florida landed in a pile of trash, where almost anyone could grab it, hours before the President took off." (link)
fortunately it didnt fall into the 'wrong hands'. president cheney... *shudder*

* clemons:

But Armitage, as I have written before, turns out to have been an element of conscience in the first term of this Bush administration. He was one of the very few inhibitors to a neocon takeover of the foreign policy helm even before 9/11. Among his roster of important deeds was working with Asst. Secretary John Wolf and others to take down and expose the A.Q. Khan network -- something for which many pundits incorrectly give John Bolton credit.

Armitage also worked closely with Paul Wolfowitz (yes, Wolfowitz) in highly tense, complex diplomacy to stop India and Pakistan from dropping nukes on each other. According to insiders, the chances of nuclear war were very high between India and Pakistan and Armitage really saved the day...

And today, it was announced that Armitage was elected to the board of directors of ConocoPhillips, one of the country's largest oil companies...
[]
But do diplomats turned oil firm board members want prices to go up or to go down?... but clearly becoming a board member on a major oil company may have an impact on Armitage's view of the world. "

No comments: