EDITORIAL: Condoleezza Rice at head of State? (11/21/04)

EDITORIAL

Condoleezza Rice at head of State?

This week brought news from Washington that newly re-elected President George W. Bush has named National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, a highly touted Russia specialist, to take the place of Secretary of State Colin Powell, who announced his resignation on November 15. The news was met with mixed reaction.

Some have said that the appointment of Dr. Rice, a close confidante of Mr. Bush and his foreign policy mentor (and tutor), will assure that she will be able to truly speak on behalf of the president. Others have said this appointment, along with other Cabinet appointments of loyalists and the like-minded will result in an echo chamber effect within the U.S. government, whereby there will be no dissent and little difference of opinion, but merely an echoing of views.

The bad news about Dr. Rice is that she is a protégé of Brent Scowcroft, he of "Chicken Kiev" notoriety as he was widely blamed for the Bush 41's speech in Kyiv in 1991 in which he cautioned against "suicidal nationalism." Plus, it has been widely reported that National Security Advisor Rice had counseled President Bush to "punish France, ignore Germany and forgive Russia" for not supporting the U.S. in its stand against Iraq. As columnist Dr. Myron B. Kuropas put it, she appears to be of the "Russia can do no wrong" school of foreign policy.

It has been noted that Dr. Rice is certain to face some tough questions during her confirmation hearings, most notably about her role in the administration leading up to the war in Iraq. In fact, noted commentator George Will, in a column titled "What to Ask the Nominee," posed questions on the Palestinian issue, Iraq, the war powers clause of the U.S. Constitution, peacekeeping operations, Iran's and North Korea's nuclear weapon capabilities, the genocide in Darfur, and relations with Europe.

To that list we would add a few of our own.

How should the U.S. respond to President Putin's announcement that Russia is planning to deploy a new kind of nuclear missile?

How can the U.S. influence Mr. Putin to change his recent policies, which a group of over 50 former Soviet dissidents has said have placed Russia in danger of slipping back into a police state? What do you make of the Russian president's appointments of former KGB officials to positions of power in Russia?

What should have been the U.S. reaction to the blatant interference by Mr. Putin and other Russian officials in the presidential election in Ukraine? How do you appraise the recent moves by President Putin to provide for dual Russian-Ukrainian citizenship?

What will define U.S. relations with Ukraine in the post-Kuchma era?

Does the U.S. government consider the Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine to be an act of genocide as defined by the United Nations Convention on Genocide? If not, why not?

The answers, we are sure, would be truly enlightening.

Our sincere hope is that Dr. Rice, who by all accounts is sure to be confirmed as secretary of state, will see that U.S. policy as regards Russia, Ukraine and other states in the region is in need of serious attention and, indeed, overhaul.

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