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Jewish World Review Jan. 31, 2002 / 18 Shevat, 5762
Michael Ledeen
W.'s strategy in the Great War is by now clear to anyone who cares to see: We're going to attack terrorists and those who
harbor or support them, which means we're going after al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, the various Islamic Jihads, and
whatever new names these creeps invent for themselves. We're not going to be gulled by Arafat. And, as soon as the guys
in uniform get their act together, we're going after Iran, Iraq, Syria, and anyone else who doesn't shape up.
W. has said that from the first minute, and he's said it whenever anyone asks.
His political/diplomatic problem is that, as he might put it, various folks wander off the ranch and start complaining. The
Europeans complain that we're being a bit too aggressive. The Arabs complain that we're not catering to their tender
sensitivities. The human-rights crowd complains that we're being too mean to our prisoners. Defense lawyers complain that
we're not playing by San Francisco rules. If W. actually listened to all these complaints, he wouldn't have time for anything
else.
So what does he do? He dumps it all on the poor secretary of state by ordering Colin Powell to pretend that he's in favor of
everything the complainers say they want. You think we're too aggressive? Go talk to Colin, he thinks so too. In fact, he
doesn't want to kill anyone, he even wants to extend the Great War Alliance to Iran and Syria. And he certainly doesn't
want to fight Iraq again, after his bad experience ten years ago. You think we don't spend enough time holding the hands of
the moderate Arabs? Just call up Colin, he loves holding hands with them, loves flying off to talk to them, loves discussing
the finer points of Islamic lore with them. You think we're being too mean to the al Qaeda bunch in Cuba? So does Colin.
Talk to him.
It's a marvelous variation on the old "Good Cop, Bad Cop" routine, and the latest improvement - the careful leak of a
"document" suggesting that the secretary of state doesn't think the Guantanamo prisoners should be treated as "detainees"
subject to strict military standards, but perhaps "prisoners of war" entitled to free cigarettes under the Geneva Convention
written in the middle of the last century, is a masterpiece.
That "document," said to be a communication from the chief White House counsel to President Bush, reported that
Secretary Powell felt that the prisoners in Cuba should be considered "prisoners of war," and hence should be protected by
the Geneva Convention. By the time all the players had been interrogated by our alert pack of journalists, Powell had
denied it, and the whole thing blamed on some loose-cannon lawyer who apparently couldn't take a joke.
But look at the political effect: Nobody could get exercised at the administration, because the whole issue appeared to be
under heated debate. And in the meantime, serious interrogation of the prisoners moved ahead quite nicely. True, Powell
will take a few hits from hard-liners who are always ready to believe the worst about him, but they are certainly confused.
This is a military man who is used to saluting sharply and carrying out orders. He's heard the president more often than we
have, and so he can't be in any doubt about the mission.
Don't believe all these stories that claim Powell is somehow a drag on the prosecution of the Great War. Just nod
knowingly, and give credit where it's due: to the supremely cunning folks at the White House, and that master actor in the
state department.
What a performance he's
01/29/02: My past with "Johnny Jihad's" lawyer
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