When retired Gen. Barry R. McCaffrey criticized the Bush administration’s handling of the Iraq war three years ago, he was lambasted as an armchair general and deemed an adversary by the Pentagon. So even McCaffrey was surprised to find himself in the Oval Office this week giving President Bush his thoughts on Iraq.
A White House long accused of squelching internal dissent and ignoring outside viewpoints has been reaching out lately to prominent figures who have disagreed with the president. Bush just hired a Treasury secretary who opposed his policy on global warming and a press secretary who dismissed his domestic agenda as timid and listless.
How much such moves reflect a genuine opening up for an insular White House remains uncertain.
If the White House actually was capable of vetting anyone (Harriet Miers, Bernie Kerik) before they offered them a job, they might have actually been aware that the new Treasury Secretary was a member of the reality-based community and that Tony Snow thought the President was a joke on domestic policy. I guess you can take credit for anything these days, like bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq. At least some people are not fooled by the administration’s bumbling nominations.
Others are more dubious. “I want to see the proof,” said retired Col. Larry Wilkerson, who was chief of staff at the State Department until last year, when he emerged as a vocal critic of the administration. “I can hope, as I imagine 60 to 70 percent of Americans are hoping, . . . we are going to see some moderation and it’s going to bear some fruit. But I’ve got to see the fruit, because I’ve seen this before.”
