Rice: right resume, wrong choice

After the resignation of Colin Powell, the lone voice of dissent in the Bush administration, President Bush has nominated Condoleeza Rice to take his place as the Secratary of State. (Bush Picks Rice To Succeed Powell) Her strong personallity, resoluteness, and close relationship with Bush are good qualities for someone advising the president on pressing foreign policy issues. But a good resume and list of character attributes does not neccesarily make a good secretary of state.

Rice's hard-line stance on foreign policy is by no means a bad thing in itself. It does, however, create an overwhelmingly homogeneous cabinet for the President. The national security advisor, secretary of defense, and secretary of state in the current administration are now addressing foreign policy issues from the same ideological stance. Colin Powell, although he was largely ignored, at least served as a gadfly stinging the administration in its side when it may have overzealously proceeded without considering alternative options.

The Powell doctrine was ignored during the first administration. What does not boad well for the next four years is that the Rice doctrine is the Bush Doctrine is the Rumsfeld doctrine is the Wolfowitz doctrine. Tension within a president's cabinet is undoubetdly a good thing. It ensures the American people that the president is acting based on balanced advice. Now, we are left with a foreign policy machine with no gadfly-no conscience-no one to suggest a prudent second look at the situation.

Condoleeza Rice may be qualified to be the Secratary of State, but she is not the best choice.