So Henry Kissinger resigned from his position heading the committee investigating the September 11 attacks, citing “potential conflict of interests”
with his consulting practice.
Seems to me that heading an investigation into such a terrible event would be a duty and an honor that could not be refused. Here you are, asked to help your country get to the bottom of what happened that day. Who could say no?
My question is this: What possible “conflicts” could you have with doing the right thing? Is he afraid that this post will blow his contract with the North Korean Anthax Producers Union? Is he afraid something particularly unsavory will come to light?
I mean, it seems like no matter what you think of the guy, he’s gotta have an inside line to a lot of people that the average schmoe could only dream of. His refusal to step up and help his country makes him look like a sleazy pimp for foreign scumbags.
This is a double-whammy embarrassment for Bush, along with the Lott mess, though the AP seems to think the ‘families of 9/11 victims’ took a blow. Hell, if I were in one of those families, I’d be counting my blessings.
What other Jurassic Republicans are available? I heard Strom is free these days…
His biggest problem (OK, his biggest problem in keeping this job!) is that he wouldn’t release the list of clients to get potential conflicts out in the open.
If he worked for Pakistan (in fact, I think he did), he could say, “Hey, I worked for Pakistan then, and I’m working for the U.S. now. I didn’t learn anything probative while working for them and if they did something wrong here let the chips fall where they may.” There may have ensued a debate whether the potential conflict was too large for him to continue.
This is particularly important because he’s widely believe to have done a lot of work for the Saudis, whose acts or non-acts are likely to be a big part of any eventual report.
Since he wouldn’t release his client list, it just looked too shady. OK, was too shady. He did the right thing by stepping down. If he hadn’t, someone else would have done the right thing by causing him to step down. Full Disclosure: Persons close to me may have had an opportunity to gain personally by his continuance on the commission. Specifically, Kissinger may have sought to hire one or more people close to me to work for him.
There can be no such thing as a conflict of interest in this White House. Only fine, upstanding officials who would never do anything other than what is right for the country without a second thought for their own personal gain.
Kissinger has been in politics and government for a long time. You would think his knowledge and experience in both would have caused him not accept the position when it was offered to him. After all, he would surely know that conflict of interest and full disclosure are part and parcel at this level.
Same goes for George Michael who also resigned, pretty much for the same reasons.
Seems to me their egos got the best of them when they accepted their offers, and after some time realized each could not participate.
Then again, perhaps both realized that a Bush appointment would not be good for their careers.
It does seem a bit silly for someone who doesn’t travel abroad as he is frightened that he will be tried/extradited for war crimes to head an investigation on terrorism.
Ah, yes, Caesar’s wife and all that–that is why Henry the K can’t disclose his clients and the VP can’t disclose who helped write the administration’s energy (oil) policy–otherwise how could all those fine political and policy appointees be as clean as a hound’s tooth. Don’t you just love it?
I noticed yesterday that Haliburton has now settled at least one of the asbestos actions that put their stock in the tank after Cheney drove through the purchases of those asbestos-laden companies. Something like $2 billion in cash and another billion in stock. Pillage and move on is such fine advice, don’t you think?
That’s former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, who was pleased to serve the public until 1995. George Michael is the guy who pleasured himself in public until 1998.
The real problem, as I stated in the BBQ, isn’t so much his contacts (to realistic, everyone in the “revolving door” between public sector and access lobbying gigs has potential conflict of interests) but rather his political philosophy. In short, many people who are already looking at this issue have argued that the continuing Cold War mentality of national intelligence and Realpolitik that Kissenger embodies is EXACTLY what was to blame for our intelligence agencies failing to see stuff like 9/11 coming. Kissinger was distinctly unqualified to seriously examine these philosophies, because he is unambiguously wedded to them.
