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After Iraq, it is the Hawks Vs Doves in the USA
Washington, Apr 23: US Conservatives launched a broadside attack against the State Department yesterday, accusing it of a litany of diplomatic blunders over the past six months and actively attempting to undermine President George W Bush`s foreign policy goals.
Washington, Apr 23: US Conservatives launched a broadside attack against the State Department yesterday, accusing it of a litany of diplomatic blunders over the past six months and actively attempting to undermine President George W Bush's foreign policy goals.
The allegations come as an internecine battle, fueled by the war in Iraq, raged in Washington between what many perceive to be Pentagon "hawks" and State Department "doves" over the role the United States should play as the world's leading superpower.
Led by former Congressman Newt Gingrich, a former Speaker
of the House of Representatives whose sentiments are widely shared by Bush's core political base, the Conservatives railed against US diplomats for failing to win foreign support for the war on Iraq and derailing progress stemming from victory.
The White House and State Department both immediately dismissed the charges, which were prominently previewed on the front-page of the 'Washington Post' newspaper yesterday.
In a speech to the Right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, Gingrich slammed the State Department for "ineffective and incoherent" diplomacy in the lead up to the war and turning the world, including allies in Europe, Turkey and South Korea, against US efforts to topple Saddam Hussein.
"That is a stunning diplomatic defeat and communications defeat of the first order," he said, calling on Bush to implement an immediate and radical overhaul of the US foreign policy apparatus. Constantine Menges, a former CIA officer who is now a Fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute, said the State Department acted "time and time again" as if "it knew better than the elected President of the United States."
Although Gingrich and Menges are only two voices in the clamorous debate, their views are widely popular among Washington insiders and policy analysts who believe that the United States has an obligation to lead the world into a new era of democracy.
Their calls have become increasingly vocal as so-called 'hawks' like Vice-President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, bask in the glow of the military victory in Iraq.
The Conservatives have been careful not to directly attack Secretary of State Colin Powell, who enjoys massive public support, but have not so subtlely sought to limit his influence the key foreign policy issues of the day: Iraq, the West Asia peace process and North Korea.
Gingrich, however, went a step beyond previous iterations of the debate, suggesting that the state department was not only incapable of doing its job, but was deliberately sabotaging the Bush agenda.
Having been saved from their own incompetence on Iraq by the Pentagon and defence department planners, Gingrich said US diplomats were now engaged in an overt war to destroy Bush's desire to democratize West Asia.
"Now the State Department is back at work pursuing policies that will clearly throw away all the fruits of hard-won victory," he said.
Bureau Report
"That is a stunning diplomatic defeat and communications defeat of the first order," he said, calling on Bush to implement an immediate and radical overhaul of the US foreign policy apparatus. Constantine Menges, a former CIA officer who is now a Fellow at the conservative Hudson Institute, said the State Department acted "time and time again" as if "it knew better than the elected President of the United States."
Although Gingrich and Menges are only two voices in the clamorous debate, their views are widely popular among Washington insiders and policy analysts who believe that the United States has an obligation to lead the world into a new era of democracy.
Their calls have become increasingly vocal as so-called 'hawks' like Vice-President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, bask in the glow of the military victory in Iraq.
The Conservatives have been careful not to directly attack Secretary of State Colin Powell, who enjoys massive public support, but have not so subtlely sought to limit his influence the key foreign policy issues of the day: Iraq, the West Asia peace process and North Korea.
Gingrich, however, went a step beyond previous iterations of the debate, suggesting that the state department was not only incapable of doing its job, but was deliberately sabotaging the Bush agenda.
Having been saved from their own incompetence on Iraq by the Pentagon and defence department planners, Gingrich said US diplomats were now engaged in an overt war to destroy Bush's desire to democratize West Asia.
"Now the State Department is back at work pursuing policies that will clearly throw away all the fruits of hard-won victory," he said.
Bureau Report