CONDI SHOULD CLEAN UP STATE DEPT.

Condi Should Tame Foggy Bottom - Lawrence F. Kaplan
Condoleezza Rice would be well within her rights to "clean out" the State Department. The U.S. Foreign Service conducts day-to-day relations with other countries and implements the president's policies. There's no reason it shouldn't function more like the military establishment, whose professional ethos depends on the principle of strict subordination to political control - disagreements may exist, but once the president arrives at a decision, the matter has been settled. Needless to say, no such ethos animates the ranks of the diplomatic corps.

Under this president, some State Department officials regard acts of dissent not only as their right, but as their obligation. Harsh assessments of administration policy have come from Ronald Schlicher, until recently a top-ranking official in Iraq. As consul general in Jerusalem, Schlicher was rendered so disconsolate by Bush's 2002 announcement that the U.S. would no longer deal with Arafat that he simply stopped sending cables to Washington. Which stands to reason: According to the Jerusalem Post, a letter Arafat sent to Powell, in which the Palestinian leader attempted an apology for smuggling arms from Iran, was penned by Schlicher himself. (The New Republic)