Still stupid after all these years, or another indication that Bush wants war with Iran

He's baaack....

On August 29, 2004, I published a post entitled "Paul Wolfowitz: prime example of everything wrong with the Bush administration." Then he left the Bush administration and was subsequently was named by Bush to be the president of the World Bank, a position from which he was later forced to resign. For those who might not have read any of my previous musings about Wolfowitz, I almost always call him "Wolfowitless" because the man is a true dumbass, and he's delusional to boot. Just go to the Cosmic Wheel Index and read all the posts under the heading of "Wolfowitz, Paul" for details.

And now he is being brought back into the Bush administration. As reported first by Newsweek:

Don't ever say the Bush administration doesn't take care of its own. Nearly three years after Paul Wolfowitz resigned as deputy Defense secretary and six months after his stormy departure as president of the World Bank—amid allegations that he improperly awarded a raise to his girlfriend—he's in line to return to public service. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has offered Wolfowitz, a prime architect of the Iraq War, a position as chairman of the International Security Advisory Board, a prestigious State Department panel, according to two department sources who declined to be identified discussing personnel matters. The 18-member panel, which has access to highly classified intelligence, advises Rice on disarmament, nuclear proliferation, WMD issues and other matters. "We think he is well suited and will do an excellent job," said one senior official.

Un-freakin-believable.

So what does this have to do with Iran?

The short answer is that the Bush administration has been using the WMD issue--specifically nuclear weapons--as the major reason for taking an increasingly belligerent approach to Iran, and putting Wolfowitless in a position to directly affect policy regarding WMD indicates that the Bush administration is trying to build a case for war with Iran.

An examination of the ISAB and related groups and officials provides support for this view.

According to the State Department website, the International Security Advisory Board

provides the Department with independent insight and advice on all aspects of arms control, disarmament, international security, and related aspects of public diplomacy. The ISAB is sponsored and overseen by the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security. The Board provides its recommendations directly to the Secretary of State.

The Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security

serves as Senior Adviser to the President and the Secretary of State for Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament. In this capacity, the Under Secretary attends and participates, at the direction of the President, in National Security Council (NSC) and subordinate meetings pertaining to arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament and has the right to communicate, through the Secretary of State, with the President and members of the NSC on arms control, nonproliferation, and disarmament concerns.

The Under Secretary leads the interagency policy process on nonproliferation and manages global U.S. security policy, principally in the areas of nonproliferation, arms control, regional security and defense relations, and arms transfers and security assistance. The Under Secretary provides policy direction in the following areas: nonproliferation, including the missile and nuclear areas, as well as chemical, biological, and conventional weapons proliferation; arms control, including negotiation, ratification, verification and compliance, and implementation of agreements on strategic, non-conventional, and conventional forces; regional security and defense relations, involving policy regarding U.S. security commitments worldwide as well as on the use of U.S. military forces in unilateral or international peacekeeping roles; and arms transfers and security assistance programs and arms transfer policies. By delegation from the Secretary, the Under Secretary performs a range of functions under the Foreign Assistance Act, Arms Export Control Act, and related legislation. The Bureaus of International Security and Nonproliferation and Political-Military Affairs are under the policy oversight of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security. By statute, the Assistant Secretary for Verification, Compliance, and Implementation reports to the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security.

(emphasis added). Thus, the Under Secretary plays a significant role in policy and its implementation regarding WMD in general, and nuclear weapons in particular. Before examining the background of the current Under Secretary, let's look at the function of another of the groups he oversees.

The Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation (ISN)

is responsible for managing a broad range of nonproliferation, counterproliferation and arms control functions. ISN leads U.S. efforts to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons) and their delivery systems.

With all this in mind, let's take a look at who the current Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, John Rood. His official State Department bio lists his previous jobs from latest to earliest, but I am going to list them in chronological order--with one exception.

From May 2001 to September 2003, Mr. Rood served as the Director for Proliferation Strategy, Counterproliferation, and Homeland Defense at the National Security Council. His duties involved the formulation, coordination, and implementation of policy on missile defense, North Korea, and other related arms control and nonproliferation matters.

*******

From September 2003 to February 2005, Mr. Rood served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Forces Policy. In this post, Mr. Rood's responsibilities included the development and oversight of policy and programs related to U.S. nuclear and conventional strategic forces, ballistic missile defenses, and the use of space systems for military purposes.

*******

Mr. Rood previously served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterproliferation Strategy at the National Security Council from February 2005-October 2006. In this post, he was responsible for staffing and providing advice to the President and National Security Advisor and coordinating Administration efforts to counter, prevent, and roll-back the spread of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.

*******

John Rood served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation from October 2006-September 2007. In this position, he was responsible for the development and implementation of policies to curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, exercise effective multilateral export controls, and other arms control matters.

Of particular note is that Rood 1) served in various capacities in the Bush administration and advanced rather quickly; and 2) he has never left the Bush administration. That means he is basically a "yes man" that has and will continue to stick to the policies and desires of Bush and the neocons. Some might counter that the neocons no longer have the pull they once had, but I say they are trying to get that influence back. Notice that Rood went from the NSC to the Defense Department--the organization that was previously full of neocon assholes AND the organization that has been in charge of the Iraq fiasco from the start. While it is true that the principal players from that group are now gone from DoD, that does not mean they are out of the picture. Rood is an example. He went from DoD to the State Department--an indication that the neocons--the people who brought us the Iraq war and think the same thing should happen in Iran--are trying to open shop in the State Department (and here's another indication). And another indication of this move is the appointment of Wolfowitless to chair the International Security Advisory Board. More on that a little later.

And if there is any doubt that Rood will be pushing a policy of war with Iran, factor in what he did before joining the Bush administration. From his bio:

Prior to his first stint at the National Security Council, Mr. Rood served as Senior Policy Advisor to Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona. In that position, he worked on a broad range of defense and foreign policy issues, with an emphasis on missile defense, arms control, nonproliferation, export controls, and nuclear weapons issues. Mr. Rood worked for Senator Kyl for four years.

In case you don't remember, Kyl was the co-sponsor of the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment, which I have already described as the first step in trying to build the case for war with Iran.

What this all means is that while Rood technically has oversight authority in regard to the International Security Advisory Board, the chances of him doing anything to restrain Wolfowitless are slim and freaking none.

Now consider the following:

1. Wolfowitless will have access to highly classified information and be the chairman of a group that can be highly influential in formulating State Department policy.
2. Secretary of State Rice is, in my opinion, just a figurehead in the sense that she simply carries out Bush policy rather than exerts influence on Bush.
   
3. The International Security Advisory Board seems to me to be analogous to the Defense Policy Review Board, an independent advisory group with the Defense Department that was loaded with neocons and was very influential in shaping policy that led to the Iraq war.

I was thrilled when Wolfowitless resigned from DoD, but I foolishly hoped that meant his days of government "service" were finished. Now he is back, and I fear it signals an increased effort by Bush to go to war with Iran.