HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
Apr 9, 2004 I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I love Condoleezza Rice. There really aren’t enough metaphors to accurately reflect her many outstanding qualities. She is as intellectual as the day is long, charming as all get out and cool as a cucumber. Better still, she’s as unflappable as.. well, something that doesn’t flap. An ostrich’s wing, I guess. In the Capitol Hill dog-and-pony show that veered perilously close to kangaroo court” territory Thursday, Dr. Rice held her own against the combined might of former members of Congress like former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Nebr.) and perennial gloryhounds like attorney Richard Ben-Veniste who tried to crucify her on the cross of fortunetelling. The criticism lobbed her way by their combined forces was that she and President Bush were somehow remiss in being unable to predict the future accurately. Former Clinton Administration National Security czar Sandy Berger had briefed the new Bush team in 2001 about the threat of al Qaida and Osama bin Laden, but no information was provided to Dr. Rice or President Bush about when and where an attack on Americans would occur. Why? Because the future is unknowable. Had there been evidence that Dr. Rice, the President and others had known the World Trade Center was a target on Sept. 11, 2001, or that airliners would be used like flying bombs at 8:30 a.m. in the skies over New York City, perhaps an argument could be made that someone in the national security community was remiss. However, Dr. Rice was attacked by Kerrey – said to be on Sen. John Kerry’s (D-Mass.) short list for Vice President – and others with an obvious political axe to grind on the flimsiest of charges. Sadly for them, Dr. Rice was more than a match for them. In spite of various acerbic remarks by commission members, she held her own and never lowered herself to their level. She remained calm, collected, articulate and -- above all -- honest and forthcoming. It’s tough to convict someone for not knowing something that was unknowable to begin with. It’s even tougher to make someone like Dr. Rice look bad. She has been a punching bag for weeks, and subtly implicated by various folks in every national security blunder since President Bush’s remark during his State of the Union speech two years ago that Niger has a nuclear weapons program. Dr. Rice kept her cool, focused on being diplomatic and tactful and, frankly, came out smelling like a rose. Interestingly, that was never her goal. Her mission was to reassure the public that the President responded to a terrorist threat as ably as he could given the information available. She did so with grace and poise, something sorely lacking in D.C. Had she or the President known that terrorists were planning something for Sept. 11, 2001, you can bet their actions would have been different. The Japanese surprised us in December 1941, too, but the Roosevelt Administration never got this sort of kangaroo court treatment. It isn’t a crime to not know the unknowable. Dr. Rice acquitted herself very ably in the court of public opinion, and reassured America that this President did the best he could with the information available. The tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, couldn’t have been avoided, no matter how badly Kerrey, Ben-Veniste and others wish it. The 9/11 Commission must be very frustrated. They are playing a blame game with tar and feathers that don’t stick. ------------ About the author: Doug Hecox is a popular author and columnist whose works have appeared in newspapers throughout the Rocky Mountains, various magazines and even Reader's Digest. For more information, visit him at DougFun.com. Email: doug@dougfun.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
