I may be the lone conservative voice in the following statement, or at least one of the few voices outside the Democratic Party and the liberal agenda, but I am not completely comfortable with Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State.
Now, some will immediately jump on this admission as some sort of proof that I am not true to my supposed roots as a conservative, or worse, I will be accused of being a closet liberal, but the truth is that my concern has nothing to do with liberalism. In fact, my concern is really rooted in conservatism in its truest form.
My concern is based in a fairly simple notion: the balance of power. Whatever anyone, liberal or conservative, may have thought of Secretary Powell, he did bring balance to President Bush’s otherwise hawkish cabinet. Consider that I am a an ultra-hawk, but I also understand that balance is necessary for our form of government to survive.
With Secretary Rice now in charge of State, hawks hold all of the major cabinet positions. What does this mean for the next four years of the Bush administration? I suspect acceleration in the policy of preemption.
Is such a policy move wrong? Perhaps not for a nation prepared for such things, but the United States is far from prepared. Our military is stretched; how much further can it be? Our diplomatic efforts are laughable; where are our options? Our nation is divided; where is the unity needed for such a policy to go forward?
Dr. Rice is in a unique position as Secretary of State to redress many of these problems by enacting reforms within State and by building a new international alliance that cuts out those of our allies who do not see the world as it is today, but she must do so realizing that, while the US is the most powerful nation on the planet, our capability and resources are not infinite. The question is whether she can do so considering her already express views on foreign policy. Will she let her ‘big stick’ view of the world dominate the delicate realm of diplomacy?
I believe that Secretary Rice will do a good job. I believe she is contentious and dedicated to our nation and to the President. She will do her best to advise the President and to lead our nation’s diplomatic effort in the best way possible. I just wonder if her way is a way that our nation will be able to accept ten or twenty years from now.
Time will tell whether Secretary Rice was a good choice for State. Until then, I reserve judgment, and I will be watching very closely.
DLK 20050127
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