A tsunami aid follow up: Powell and Bush

Powell

Today Colin Powell--who is still Secretary of State--toured disaster areas in Thailand and then went to Jakarta, Indonesia. Here's a report of some of what he said in Jakarta:

Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday the outpouring of American aid and humanitarian help in the region devastated by the tsunami may also help Muslim nations see the United States in a better light.

“What it does in the Muslim world, the rest of the world is giving an opportunity to see American generosity, American values in action,” Powell said after meeting with Hassan Wirayuda, his Indonesian counterpart.

“America is not an anti-Islamic, anti-Muslim nation. America is a diverse society. We respect all religions,” he said.

Powell said he hopes Muslim countries see the wide range of U.S. aid and involvement around the world, of which the disaster relief is only the latest example. U.S. involvement and cooperation “is in the best interest of those countries and it’s in our best interest,” he said.

“It dries up those pools of dissatisfaction that give rise to terrorist activities,” Powell added.

I happen to pretty much agree with what Powell said. And Powell supports something I said in the previous post:

I'm not saying that the government should come up with all the aid money that comes from our country. However, since we have such a great democracy that this administration constantly puts forth as the shining example to all the world, it would be helpful if the government had some sort of visible role in this effort to get private donations[.]

What better way to show "American generosity" and "American values" to the world than through our government? Many non-Americans say that they generally like Americans but do not like George W. Bush or our government. If our government shows that it is leading the effort to get private donations, won't that help to exemplify "U.S. involvement and cooperation"?

Maybe this trip is the start of a more visible role for the actual U.S. government that I would like to see. And then again, a prominent member of the delegation with Powell is not a member of the U.S. government...

Bush

I'm not talking about George W. Bush. I'm not talking about George Herbert Walker Bush. I'm talking about Jeb Bush.

Colin Powell made this official trip to Southeast Asia as an official representative of the United States government, and he was accompanied by Jeb Bush, the governor of Florida. WHY? WHAT PURPOSE WAS SERVED BY HAVING JEB BUSH THERE? Maybe there is a legitimate reason. If so, someone please feel free to share with the class.

Jeb Bush is not a representative of the U.S. government. Jeb Bush has no authority over anything in the U.S. government. Florida was not hit by a tsunami. So why was he there?

Well, for some possible answers, let's first turn to the State Department's web site and a transcription of remarks made by Powell and (Gov.) Bush in Bangkok, Thailand on January 3. Powell began with this:

Hi, everybody. This is the last leg of a long trip. I'm pleased that you're all able to join Governor Bush and me for what I think is an important trip. The President wanted both of us to come out here to demonstrate U.S. commitment to the nations of the region and to make an assessment, as well, of the situation and see what else we might need to do.

Here's Jeb's opening comments:

I'd like to reiterate the Secretary's comments in terms of the importance of this trip to show not only our government's support for the relief efforts, but the American people's support. I guess that's partly my role to be here, having gone through the hurricanes last summer and received the benefit of the outpouring of support of the American people that allowed us to recover quickly.

My focus here is to look at the assessment, as Secretary Powell said, but also focus on the longer-term recovery issues and report back to the President. And I look forward to doing that. The relief effort is a logistical nightmare, but it is something that can be overcome. Irrespective of how much tragedy is taking place, there will be a way to get food and water and medicine to people. The long-term recovery issues are the ones that are a greater challenge, and the ones where I think the expertise of our country can be brought to bear to really help people. Millions of people are counting on that help, and I know that our country, once again, will be there to help them.

(emphasis added). And on January 4, while in Bangkok, Jeb had this to say:

Mr. Foreign Minister, I join Secretary Powell in offering our deepest sympathies and the sympathies of President Bush and the First Lady of the United States to the Thai people, and especially to the Royal family who have suffered so greatly from the tsunami disaster.

My home state of Florida suffered four hurricanes a few months ago and so we share this experience because we know it will take a huge financial and human toll on the people of Thailand and in the region.

O.K....So Jeb has some experience in assessing disaster areas. That's fine, but so do other members of the delegation (which will be addressed later), so Jeb was not indispensable in that regard. Jeb apparently was there to show the support of the American people (as opposed to the government), and since he is the governor of a state that was hit by four hurricanes in one month, he can express empathy with the tsunami victims. That's reasonable. However, someone needs to explain why this is not the equivalent of "I feel your pain"--you know, that sort of thing that Bush advisers have said President Bush disliked about Bill Clinton. And if anyone can give a plausible explanation, then take a crack at explaining why President Bush chose Clinton to lead the private fund raising effort.

Let me make something clear. I am not criticizing Jeb Bush for saying the equivalent of "I feel your pain." He is in a position to make a credible, sincere statement to that effect, and I have no problem with such a statement being made. I just want to know why President Bush has previously been so dismissive of Clinton for doing something like this but has his chosen representative do the same. And I still want to know why Jeb Bush went on this trip. How about choose some member of Congress from Florida? Surely there must be some Florida member of the House or Senate that might actually have some say over how American public money is spent on this relief effort. As I said, Jeb Bush has no such authority.

So, Jeb Bush might have been chosen because he could sincerely convey understanding and emotional support. If that is the reason he was on the trip, even I would have a hard time arguing against that.

Could there be any other reason? Why, yes, there just might be, as set out in this AP article:

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has emphatically ruled out a 2008 bid to replace his brother in the White House, but his profile-raising tour of tsunami-wrecked countries has rekindled talk of a third Bush presidency.

Florida political experts and Bush family friends said they take the governor at his word "I'm not going to run for president in 2008," Bush pledged in October but believe the 51-year-old Bush is leaving his options open for a White House bid in 2012 or beyond.

"He's never ruled it out, and he's a young man," said Charlie Black, political adviser to former President George H.W. Bush, the governor's father.

Jeb Bush's trip with Secretary of State Colin Powell to Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka seems tailor-made for a White House aspirant looking to pad his resume. Traveling with a press secretary and two security guards, Bush is getting equal billing at news conferences with Powell, the pair standing side-by-side at podiums or in trio with a foreign leader.

Powell typically refers to Bush in the first sentence or two of any public remarks, saying "we" are doing this and "we" will do that. Bush seems to take his cues from Powell they even dress alike, wearing khakis and open-necked shirts.

The governor is deferential to Powell, calling him "the secretary" and, so far, limiting his remarks to how his experience with Florida's heavy hurricane season may be relevant. He acknowledged, however, that the damage from four hurricanes last fall paled in comparison to the devastation from the tsunami's wrath.

"We had nothing compared to that. We had loss of property, disruption of daily life, loss of electricity, lack of water that lasted for days, in some cases weeks," Bush said Tuesday at a Bangkok air base. "But when you have 150,000 people died over 11 countries, that's something that goes way beyond what anybody experienced in our own country."

Bush showed an empathetic touch during the hurricanes, increasing his popularity in Florida. Now, he has a chance to raise his national profile.

"He's dealing with foreign leaders and an international crisis, so I think it will stick in people's minds that he is a serious international player if he wants to be," Black said.

Am I just being too cynical? Perhaps, but let's look at some more facts. a review of the transcripts from January 3 and January 4 referenced above (and the transcript from the January 4 Jakarta press conference) will show the AP article to be accurate.

Furthermore, there were other people in the delegation besides Powell and Jeb. In fact, the delegation included Andrew Natsios, the administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and Mike Brown, the administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). According to the USAID web site, USAID is "the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster[.]" The FEMA web site says "The Federal Emergency Management Agency...is tasked with responding to, planning for, recovering from and mitigating against disasters." And FEMA was the agency primarily responsible for U.S. government assistance to Florida after the four hurricanes. Now, none of this means that either Natsios or Brown could have been the "I feel your pain" guy instead of Jeb Bush, but it does mean that the delegation included actual representatives of the U.S. government with 1) expertise and experience in disaster relief and 2) some authority to determine how U.S. government money and resources will be allocated in this relief effort. So why was Jeb in all the meetings with foreign leaders instead of these guys? Why didn't Powell talk about Natsios and Brown as much as he did Jeb?

If this trip is in large part about meeting with foreign officials, why was Condi Rice not part of the delegation? By the end of the month, she, not Colin Powell, and not Jeb Bush, will be the Secretary of State. Can someone explain that one for me?