Saturday, March 19, 2005
Neoconservative Musical Chairs
The Turkish Press reports that the US ambassador to Turkey, Eric Edelman, has resigned, and citing "diplomatic circles" speculates that Edelman will become Rumsfeld's chief stooge if Wolfowitz's appointment to the World Bank goes through or that he will replace Feith as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.
Edelman is a neoconservative Kool-Aid drinker and one of the vice president's men. Before becoming an ambassador, Edelman was Cheney's Deputy for National Security Affairs, according to the New Republic, a top Pentagon "Sovietologist and organizer of the Saturday seminars" who was tapped by Libby to become his chief strategist. He's been hanging around with the boys since the days when they were the crazies who liked to send crank letters to Clinton about invading Iraq. Here's how Nicholas Lemann characterized the group that lobbied for Iraq War II and what has become the war on terror:
During the Freedom Fries era, the Times described Edelman, along with Scooter, as a "driving force" at a meeting within Cheney's office discussing how to "punish" France for not supporting the invasion of Iraq.
So the new Wolfowitz might be a lot like the old Wolfowitz except more in bed with the vice president...
Edelman is a neoconservative Kool-Aid drinker and one of the vice president's men. Before becoming an ambassador, Edelman was Cheney's Deputy for National Security Affairs, according to the New Republic, a top Pentagon "Sovietologist and organizer of the Saturday seminars" who was tapped by Libby to become his chief strategist. He's been hanging around with the boys since the days when they were the crazies who liked to send crank letters to Clinton about invading Iraq. Here's how Nicholas Lemann characterized the group that lobbied for Iraq War II and what has become the war on terror:
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Dick Cheney, then the Secretary of Defense, set up a "shop," as they say, to think about American foreign policy after the Cold War, at the grand strategic level. The project, whose existence was kept quiet, included people who are now back in the game, at a higher level: among them, Paul Wolfowitz, the Deputy Secretary of Defense; Lewis Libby, Cheney's chief of staff; and Eric Edelman, a senior foreign-policy adviser to Cheney—generally speaking, a cohesive group of conservatives who regard themselves as bigger-thinking, tougher-minded, and intellectually bolder than most other people in Washington.
During the Freedom Fries era, the Times described Edelman, along with Scooter, as a "driving force" at a meeting within Cheney's office discussing how to "punish" France for not supporting the invasion of Iraq.
So the new Wolfowitz might be a lot like the old Wolfowitz except more in bed with the vice president...
