A rchive Date
[ 14-01-2004 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ U.S ]
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[http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/editorial/2352492
Disgruntlement often precedes political revelation
Jan. 13, 2004, 9:12PM
A few days ago, President Bush's press secretary, Scott McClellan, told the White House press corps, "I don't do book reviews." McClellan soon changed his mind.
Reacting to Ron Suskind's book The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House and the Education of Paul O'Neill, McClellan said the thoughts presented in the book seem "more about trying to justify personal views and opinions than about looking at the reality of the results we are achieving on behalf of the American people."
President Bush fired O'Neill as U.S. Treasury secretary in December 2002. However, just because O'Neill has a grudge to bear does not make his opinions invalid or his assertions of fact untrue. One of the reasons Bush fired O'Neill was because the latter was too blunt about the dangers of overreaching tax cuts and huge budget deficits -- obvious dangers that the administration has yet to acknowledge. In Washington, team players are rarely candid, and disgruntlement is often the catalyst for revelation.
Perhaps the most significant revelation in the book is O'Neill's statement that planning for an invasion of Iraq began almost as soon as Bush was inaugurated, months before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Administration officials say they inherited a Clinton-era policy favoring regime change, but there is a huge difference between encouraging Saddam Hussein's opponents in Iraq and a U.S. invasion.
While Treasury secretary, O'Neill established a reputation as a loose cannon. He justly drew criticism for splashing cold water on Brazilian expectations of more international aid, roiling markets and intensifying Brazil's currency crisis. The U.S. government had to repudiate O'Neill's remarks and give Brazil more money.
O'Neill says he regrets characterizing Bush and his Cabinet as "a blind man in a room full of deaf people." But most people who have met with Bush know he is not a policy wonk or stickler for details. Bush admits that he rarely reads news or government reports and relies upon his closest aides to tell him what he needs to know.
O'Neill undoubtedly errs himself in some places. He accuses Bush of being befuddled and disengaged, but notes how decisive Bush was in refocusing U.S. foreign policy on Iraq rather than Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
O'Neill describes a scene in which President Bush voices concern that a tax cut is too generous to the wealthy. White House officials found fault with O'Neill's memory, columnist Robert Novak reports. Frankly, few Americans outside the White House would find such a scene credible.
Despite its shortcomings, however, The Price of Loyalty no doubt sheds valuable light on an administration that is unusually secretive. The desire to keep the public in the dark leaves the Bush administration vulnerable to critics who have a largely blank canvas on which to paint.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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