The Dartmouth Observer

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Monday, November 07, 2005
 
Inner Split

If you've been reading this blog for the past few weeks, you know that I have been disappointed with Vice President Cheney championing torture and detainment as acceptable United States policies. The Washington Post has another article on the issue today. What's new, and the reason why I am linking to it, is that it seems the Condi Rice, as Secretary of State, has been vocal in her opposition within the Administration of the Vice President's policies. This is significant because many critics of the Bush administration suggested that Rice has played a coy and passive role as Cheney and Rumsfeld formed their own foreign policy cabal. This article complicates that reading of Rice's passivity and whether she is capable of giving good advice to President Bush.
In recent months, Cheney has been the force against adding safeguards to the Defense Department's rules on treatment of military prisoners, putting him at odds with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon R. England. On a trip to Canada last month, Rice interrupted a packed itinerary to hold a secure video-teleconference with Cheney on detainee policy to make sure no decisions were made without her input.

In other good news, the Senate, forced into closed session by the Democrats, is starting to admit that the connections between Al-Quaeda and Iraq are specious.