Who's who

Washington Monthly, April, 2003 by Susan Threadgill

Who will rule Iraq when the shooting stops? The Bush administration has already announced that retired Gen. day Garner will head the Pentagon's new Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance. But Garner has maintained a low profile since his appointment in February--and for good reason. Until January, he was president of SY Coleman, a defense contractor that manufactures many of the missile systems that are being fired on Iraq. Then there's Michael Mobbs, a Pentagon lawyer whom the administration has tapped to head the civil government. He is best known for drafting the so-called Mobbs Declaration, which states that the president has wide latitude to indefinitely detain American citizens alleged to be enemy combatants, without charge or counsel.

So who will be the next Norman Schwarzkopf or Wesley Clark--the telegenic general taking a star turn--of Gulf War II? Army insiders say that Lt. Gen. John P. Abizaid is a good bet. Abizaid, who holds a master's degree in Middle Eastern studies from Harvard and studied at the University of Jordan, was recently appointed top deputy to Gen. Tommy Franks, head of U.S. forces in the Gulf, and seems groomed for success--in addition to being a favorite of Donald Rumsfeld, Abizaid speaks fluent Arabic.

Will The New Republic endorse George W. Bush for president in 2004? That's what some of the magazine's long-suffering liberal readers feared after a Feb. 24 Howard Kurtz article in The Washington Post speculated that, given TNR's hawkish foreign policy views and Al Gore's decision not to run again, a Bush endorsement was "not inconceivable" But TNR insiders tell us there is "no possibility of that happening."

Much of Washington is puzzling over the mysterious behavior of Kevin J. Martin, a Republican member of the Federal Communications Commission. In February, Martin voted with Democratic members to block a major effort to "deregulate" (i.e. enhance the monopoly power of) local phone companies. The "deregulation" plan was the centerpiece of FCC Chairman Michael Powell's sweeping new agenda for the telecommunications industry. Powell--son of Colin Powell--is so infuriated that some close observers think he may resign.

So why did Martin do it? After all, he's a handpicked George W. Bush loyalist who's tight with the vice president's office--his wife, Catherine Jurgensmeyer Martin, is Dick Cheney's chief of staff. And the White House itself seemed to back the "deregulation" plan that would have helped the Baby Bells, and, in mm, GOP fundraising efforts. One theory is that the White House no longer believes in shoveling favors to giant corporations (OK, it's just a theory!). Another is that Martin is an honest man. A third is that Martin is acting at the behest of Cheney to spite his archenemy, Colin Powell.

According to Beltway insiders, Richard Haass, a protege whom Powell installed as head of policy and planning at the State Department soon after Bush took office, will soon quit his post to replace Leslie H. Gelb as head of the Council on Foreign Relations. Rumor has it that Haass has had enough of the endless struggle between Powell's camp and that of the hawks, led by Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. If Haass leaves, it'll be a blow to Powell, and a sign of his declining influence within the administration.

For the past few months, a new coalition of liberal Democratic senators calling themselves the Democratic Study Group--named after a much-admired House research unit killed off by then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) during the 1990s--has been holding weekly brainstorming sessions. Though they've been low key, the group, led by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), has managed to sell some of its tactical ideas to the leadership, with impressive results. For instance, they convinced Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to deliver major speeches whacking Bush's economic plan before the president had even formally announced it in his State of the Union address. This new policy of preemption helped shape the generally negative press coverage Bush's plan subsequently received. Members of the group also held up the nomination of Treasury Secretary John Snow until the administration agreed to temporarily sideline a Treasury regulation that would have allowed corporations to mid pension plans. Such clever, brass-knuckle moves are drawing converts. The group, which started with fewer than half a dozen senators, now boasts more than 20, including Sens. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).