Condi Rising

by Charles

I've always been a fan of Condoleeza Rice.  Part of it has to do with her background and part has to do with her smarts, temperament, grace and charisma.  She reminds me a little of Margaret Thatcher, but better looking (sexist alert).  Another item in the plus column is her performance as Secretary of State.  Just in the last week, she has on multiple occasions lived up to the standards of the second inaugural address.  Let's recap.

Burma
In a move similar to the one she made last February when she canceled her trip to Egypt, Rice may bow out of an upcoming ASEAN meeting because of Burma. Agence France Presse:

US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice may skip a key ASEAN meeting next month amid concerns in Washington the region is not pushing enough for democratic reforms in military-ruled Myanmar, diplomatic sources said.

If she fails to make it for the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in the Laotian capital Vientiane in late July, it would be the first time ever that a US Secretary of State does not participate in the annual talks.

The meeting includes a post-ministerial dialogue between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its key trading partners, notably the United States, European Union, China, Japan and Russia, as well as an ASEAN Regional Forum, the only official security meeting in the Asia-Pacific region.

Pakistan
Rice directly intervened and obtained a personal pledge from the Pakistani government.  Sify News:

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice secured a personal pledge from Pakistan that gang-rape victim Mukhtaran Mai will be allowed to visit the United States, officials said Tuesday.

The State Department revealed Rice's personal intervention in the now famous case, after The New York Times reported that the Pakistani government still had Mai's passport, despite lifting a ban on her travelling last week.

Iran
While in Cairo, Rice forthrightly called Iran and its so-called democracy to task.  Agence France Presse:

US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice condemned what she described as "the organized cruelty" of the Iranian regime, three days after the first round of the presidential election in the Islamic Republic.

The top US diplomat made her comments in Cairo on Monday in the keynote speech of a whirlwind tour of the Middle East aimed at boosting US policies for democracy and reforms in the region.

"In Iran, people are losing patience with an oppressive regime that denies them their liberty and their rights," Rice charged, in an address to some 600 Egyptians delivered at the American University in Cairo.

"The appearance of elections does not mask the organized cruelty of Iran's theocratic state," she said.

Egypt
By way of Gateway Pundit, Rice made a strong case for Egypt to embrace democratic reforms last Monday.

Saudi Arabia
We only get the Saudi side of this article, but clearly the House of Saud is not happy that Rice is pursuing democratic reform and calling for the release of three prisoners.  What did Condi say?  Via Jay Nordlinger:

We believe any reform will expose the fact that there are universal values and freedoms that people aspire to. We believe the people of the Middle East — we believe the people of Saudi Arabia — are no different in that regard.

Iraq
In Brussels, Rice sat down with representatives from 80 countries to lay out plans, seek ideas and secure more resources.  The LA Times:

Representatives from 80 nations and various organizations will discuss ways to alleviate Iraq's urgent financial, political and security woes as they gather here today for a conference.

The meeting, hosted by the United States and the European Union at Iraq's request, is expected to focus on helping the nascent government in Baghdad survive and gain strength.

Women's Rights
Rice spoke frankly about the second class status of women in the Middle East.  The Washington Post:

Rice told reporters that Saudi women needed broader political rights to challenge and possibly change the political and cultural calculus of their nation. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy and only recently held municipal elections. Women do not have the right to vote, but the Saudi government has made vague statements about hoping to eventually grant women voting rights.

"I am quite certain that when women are able to express their aspirations and their views in the political system . . . that we will see what is really custom and what really does matter to Saudi women," Rice said.

Rice said the Saudi government had made "a little" progress in the education of women. She said she was pleased to see female Saudi journalists at her news conference with Foreign Minister Saud Faisal, though their presence at such events is not unusual. Many of the women, dressed in the traditional abaya , a head-to-toe black covering, were seated in the first row, and Saud made a point of having them ask the first and last questions.

"We need to continue to draw attention to the fact that we do think that a democracy is not a democracy if women are not fully included in it," Rice said.

A busy week for Condi, and a fruitful one.  Some will say that her words were undiplomatic.  Maybe they were, but she laid out a set principles and called truth to tyranny.  Reagan's references to the Soviet Union as an "evil empire"--or when he said "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down these walls"--weren't exactly the soothing words of a State Department pinstriper, but they changed the world and they changed conventional wisdoms.  Bully for Rice for following this tack.  Although this poll could hardly get more informal, my gut still tells me that Rice's chances for 2008 are good.

Comments

[cleek]

my gut still tells me that Rice's chances for 2008 are good

my gut tells me Ed Klein will have to write a book about her sexual ambiguities.

frankly, i doubt Rice's big words will make a whit of difference. she certainly can't enforce them herself - that has to come from her boss. and, well...

[Kevin Brennan]

Rice in 2008? Er, no. She has no legislative or governing experience and her "image appeal" is to a group that the Republican party isn't terribly concerned with or likely to win. She has never run for office, which in itself virtually guarantees that she will lose (inexperienced politicians never win their first campaign for any important office). She does nothing for the Christian Right (not one of them, not even married). Other candidates are already locking down support, and the Bush machine will swing behind Jeb.

House or Senate, maybe. Remotely possible as a VP candidate, except that I can't think of a Presidential candidate who really needs her.

[Slartibartfast]

i doubt Rice's big words will make a whit of difference

Odd...it looks like her words are in the same font as yours. Maybe I'm missing something, though.

[SomeCallMeTim]

my gut still tells me that Rice's chances for 2008 are good

My gut tells me that you have a better chance of getting all Republicans Senators to come out on the record against lynching.

[cleek]

Odd...it looks like her words are in the same font as yours. Maybe I'm missing something, though.

i was measuring horizontally.

[Slartibartfast]

kerning looks about the same, too.

[CharleyCarp]

Reagan's references to the Soviet Union as an "evil empire"--or when he said "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down these walls"--weren't exactly the soothing words of a State Department pinstriper, but they changed the world and they changed conventional wisdoms.

These statements are debatable at the very least. I don't know where you were in the 1980s, but the idea that the content of either utterance was in any way in conflict with conventional wisdom is simply laughable. What was contrary to conventional wisdom was that these utterances would move the ball downfield. My interpretation of the 1980s is that the conventional wisdom was right, that RR showed he understood this in the second term, that that his primary contribution to the eventual liberation of Eastern Europe thereafter was not screwing things up so badly that his much abler successor couldn't work out -- with very able allies on both sides of the divide -- the soft landing that RR could probably not have gotten.

[BSR]

I think she's damaged goods becuase of the August 6th Presidential breifing. She looked so very dishonest in that monent during the 911 comission hearings, I think that's going to come back to bite her on the butt if she ever runs for high office.

[cleek]

kerning looks about the same, too

that would matter if we each used the same number of the same letters in our respective sentences.

but i'm puzzled: have my words always been the standard by which others are measured ? or, is this a new thing? maybe Notes is down hasn't delivered the notification email yet ?

[Phil]

Agence France Presse

Didn't you get the memo? It's now Agence Liberte Presse.

[Anderson]

How exactly did the Worst.National.Security.Adviser.Ever. become such a darling? Very mysterious.

And for Charles to think Clarke "slippery" but extol Rice is just weird, weird, weird. Did we watch different 9/11 hearings? I saw the one with the completely clueless lady.

[CharleyCarp]

And no one has mentioned the D word yet. The Sec of State's inability to get anything good done in Sudan, indeed, what seems to be http://coalitionfordarfur.blogspot.com/2005/06/us-opposes-western-troops-in-darfur.html>backtracking, might not look all that good.

[abb1]

Every half-way decent person associated with this administration quit years ago. See Christine Todd Whitman, for example. Those who stayed are lowlife by definition. Condi-Bin-Laden-Determined-to-Attack-Inside-the-United-States-Rice is one of the lowest.

[freelunch]

I'm not seeing the same efforts that you are in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Uzbekistan. It's almost as if President Bush told these leaders that she was there for window dressing and that they were free to repress their people, particularly their women, as long as they liked. We would be far better off if we had no diplomatic relations with any of those three countries, and I don't see how we have helped the citizens of those countries in any way.

[travis]

Bush listens to Bandar, not Condi, on Saudi Arabia. The real work on Iraq reconstruction will be done at the upcoming donors conference, and Condi and State have done exactly nothing that would appeal to the confidence of other nations in helping with Iraq. Specifically, reconstruction planning and expenditure needs to be audited and placed under international oversight through the UN. No movement by Condi there. Bush listens to Cheney on Pakistan and is not going to let Condi push Musharaff there. Reformers in Egypt and Iran are better served by State and Condi butting the heck out than by tainting them with endorsements. Foreign policy in this administration is run out of OVP. Condi is a sideshow.

[bg]

Let us not forget the aluminum tubes. But tell you what: If Republicans nominate her, I'll seriously consider her. Of course, the fact I think she's a liar will hurt her chances with me.

[dmbeaster]

She is the ultimate academic and bureaucrat, which is hardly qualifications for much of anything except tenure. Her record as National Security Advisor was horrible, mostly because she provided zero leadership in coordinating national security which was her most important function. She clearly lies when it suits her, like any sniveling academic or bureaucrat.

My favorite bone-head moment (there are so many) is her stupidly uttering that no one had conceived of flying planes into buildings as a terror technique, except that they had and had provided her with the memo (which she either did not read, forgot about, or chose to ignore when making her remark).

You have to be clueless to think she has any chance in 2008, especially in this Republican party. She has thrived because she is the perfect Bush confidante -- she whispers into his ear what he wants to hear and never crosses him in public or in private. She is the ultimate sycophant.

[CharleyCarp]

But dm, in a world where John "Sabotage-the-Policy" Bolton is worthy of all the blood sweat and tears being spent for him appointment, CR's willingness to at least try to execute the policy makes her a real star. That's what I get from CB, anyway.

[travis]

What policy? All the substantive policy action is coming from the Cheney faction, and Condi is just cover, like she always has been. Stiffing Blair on global warming, stonewalling the Senate on the Bolton nomination, muddling through on Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, all these are products of the Dick Cheney policy shop. Condi has nothing to show for policy.

[Barry]

dmbeaster:
"She is the ultimate academic and bureaucrat, which is hardly qualifications for much of anything except tenure. Her record as National Security Advisor was horrible, mostly because she provided zero leadership in coordinating national security which was her most important function. She clearly lies when it suits her, like any sniveling academic or bureaucrat. "

Didn't she make a comment during the 9/11 commission hearings that there was nobody to coordinate the intelligence, or something like that? If the National Security Advisor doesn't have that as part of their responsibility, who does?