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 ave
you worried that Secretary of State Colin Powell is at odds with
some members of the president's national-security team as they plan
the war on terrorism? Don't bother. According to Newsweek,
Powell is "at center stage" in the war effort. "Cool
under fire, the quintessential crisis manager, Powell finds himself
the go-to guy," Newsweek reports. And for now, the magazine
says, "the president seems to be in Powell's corner,"
adding that the war is "being prosecuted with the kind of steely
clarity and message control favored by the Secretary of State."
But maybe you
weren't worried about Powell and instead feared that George W. Bush
wasn't fully in charge of his own team. Relax. Six days after the
terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, reports the Washington
Post, Bush called in top aide Karen Hughes and told her he wanted
to address a joint session of Congress. "I want to see a draft
of that speech tonight," Bush said, according to the Post.
"Mr. President, I think that's going to be difficult if not
impossible," Hughes answered. The paper says that "Bush
responded with a deadline: 7 p.m." Later, Bush "called
in the writers...and gave them his own passionate version of the
speech he wanted, off the cuff. 'They were scribbling,' Hughes said.
'He was making the case to them about why this is important.'"
At around the
same time, reports the New York Times, Bush held a long war
council at Camp David with the "principals," the top officials
who are his primary advisers on war matters. After the meeting,
when all had left, Bush summoned national-security adviser Condoleezza
Rice for a "private conversation" in his cabin. According
to "a senior White House aide" who spoke to the Times,
Bush said simply, "Here's what I want to do." Then, as
Rice began taking copious notes, the president laid out a multi-phase
war plan, beginning with an assault on Osama bin Laden.
Now that's
steely clarity, Secretary Powell.
No doubt the
Bush White House staff is on a full-scale war footing. But there
are times when it also appears to be on a full-scale spin footing.
Last Sunday, when the Times and Post stories appeared,
there had been a week of who's-up-who's-down speculation that centered
on the apparent rift between Powell and deputy defense secretary
Paul Wolfowitz. But the Times and Post stories, plus
the account that appeared the same day in Newsweek, suggest
that we need not worry too much about Powell/Wolfowitz. These days,
the real spin war is between Powell and the president himself.
After all,
somebody had to tell reporters that the "cool under
fire" Powell has become the "go-to guy" in the war
effort. And somebody had to tell reporters about the "private
conversation" the president had with Rice. With the stakes
sky-high and reputations on the line, it appears that both camps
are summoning reporters from the nation's premier news organizations
to hand them one side of the story. And the papers are happy to
pass it on.
So what is
the truth? Who's up and who's down? Who knows? No doubt the Bush
administration really is devoting all its energy to the war effort.
But somewhere, amid all that work, they're finding time to keep
the spin war going, too.
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