http://www.dawn.com/2001/01/16/int8.htm
US state department militarized: paper
By Masood Haider
NEW YORK, Jan 15: The appointment and the confirmation of retired Gen Colin
Powell as the next US secretary of state is tantamount to "the militarization
of the State Department and the triumph of military over civilian control",
says writer Christopher Hitchens in an article published in the magazine,
"The Nation".
In a most revealing and candid piece on the power of the US armed forces,
Hitchens says that "the most important moment in Powell's career as a
Republican came in the first months of the first Clinton Administration, when
he organized and led a political mutiny against the Commander in Chief,"{
President Bill Clinton in 1992) and saw the mutiny succeed.
Immediately after Mr. Clinton announced his policy on the induction of
homosexuals in the army with discrimination, Gen. Powell led the Army Chief
of Staffs to a meeting in the White House, forcing Mr. Clinton to backdown on
his open gay policy hence the "Don't Ask Don't Tell " doctrine was
established. The Nation's writer contends that Mr. Clinton surrendered to the
powers of the generals at a critical point at the start of his presidency.
"The coronation of Colin Powell will probably not be interrupted by any of
the specific questions about his mediocre and sometimes sinister past," says
Hitchens. "The political correctness of the nomination, in both its 'rainbow"
and "bipartisan" aspects, will see to that. Powell has often defined himself
as "a fiscal conservative and a social liberal," which also happens to be the
core identity of the Washington press corps. Set against this, what is the
odd war crime, or cover-up of same, or deception of a gullible Congress? Time
to move on. "
Writing about various controversial positions taken by Gen. Colin Powell as
he served as the Joint Chief of Staff appointed by former President George
Bush before leaving office, Hitchens says President Clinton was "elected, you
may remember, having promised to lift the ban on homosexuals serving in the
military and having promised to lift the embargo on the supply of arms to
Bosnia.
"Nor were these mere 'fine print' promises: The first had been front and
centre in his campaigning, and the second had involved comparisons with the
Final Solution, of the sort that can't easily be taken back. Within a few
months of his swearing the oath that he was to break in so many ways, Clinton
receded from both these pledges. In both instances, he caved in to a
political revolt orchestrated by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."
