Bush's changing administration (Part 2)

Part 2 of the Bushs's changing adminstration post....


JOHN NEGROPONTE, FORMER UN AMBASSADOR

Mr Negroponte was the inaugural director of national intelligence
Mr Negroponte was appointed despite strong opposition from a number of members of Congress concerned about reports that he had turned a blind eye to human rights abuses while ambassador to Honduras in the 1980s, in return for Honduran assistance in the fight against the Sandinistas in Nicaragua.

Following his stint at the UN, Mr Negroponte became first the US ambassador to Iraq, and then the inaugural director of national intelligence, a new role set up after 9/11 to co-ordinate US intelligence agencies. He now serves as deputy secretary of state.


COLIN POWELL, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE

Mr Powell was a key figure in the build up to the Iraq war

Colin Powell, the first-ever African-American secretary of state, was more politically moderate than many of Mr Bush's other senior appointees.

His time at the state department was dominated by disputes with the vice-president and with Donald Rumsfeld, both of whom favoured a more belligerent policy towards Iraq.

Despite private misgivings, Mr Powell played a prominent role in administration attempts to make a public case for war.

It later emerged that he had also disagreed with Mr Rumsfeld's war strategy, and had argued that more troops should be sent than had been allocated in Mr Rumsfeld's plans.

Since his resignation in 2004, Mr Powell has become increasingly critical of the Bush administration, in particular of the conduct of the war and the treatment of detainees.


CONDOLEEZZA RICE, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER

Prior to her appointment as national security adviser (NSA) Ms Rice was a professor of political science at Stanford University, with a successful academic track record in foreign policy.


Ms Rice has not been tarnished by the US' invasion of Iraq
Although her time as NSA coincided with the decision to invade Iraq, Ms Rice has never been closely associated with the policy.

She is seen as an incredibly loyal servant of the president, however, and her 2005 promotion to secretary of state was not unexpected.

Her distance from the decision to invade Iraq and her relative popularity in the US and abroad suggest that she will be one of the few members of the Bush inner circle to have a political future after the president's departure.

DONALD RUMSFELD, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENCE
Mr Rumsfeld was a controversial defence secretary and the key architect of the "shock and awe" strategy used to fight the war in Iraq.


Mr Rumsfeld quit soon after major Republican losses
His bluff style and belief in a smaller, more mobile army alienated some in the military.

The worsening news from Iraq led to major Republican losses in the 2006 mid-term elections and Mr Rumsfeld resigned soon afterwards.

He is now working on his memoirs and planning the establishment of an educational foundation.


PAUL WOLFOWITZ, FORMER DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENCE

Mr Wolfowitz was forced to resign over a pay-rise to his partner
A key intellectual architect of neo-conservatism, Paul Wolfowitz was a strong advocate of the war in Iraq and his subsequent appointment in 2005 as World Bank president was unpopular with those who had opposed the war.

He was forced to resign in 2007 over his role in awarding a $60,000 pay-rise to his partner, Shaha Riza, who had worked at the bank, and is now a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think-tank.

The bulk of this post was found at the bbc news website

Take Care, Vix

[edit on 14-8-2007 by Vixion]