WP: Reaction Mixed Around the World

[kskiska]

Some Disappointed by Powell's Departure, Others Welcome It

AMMAN, Jordan, Nov. 15 -- Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's resignation announcement Monday evoked a mixed international reaction of personal sympathy, political disappointment and intense concern over whether his replacement will be another moderate or a hard-line ideologue.

From Paris to Kampala, officials and analysts of U.S. foreign policy said Powell was an honest broker within an administration that was highly unpopular overseas and whose motives have been particularly questioned in Europe and the Middle East.

Yet even among his admirers, Powell never seemed to measure up to the larger-than-life persona he first brought to the job. Many people said he made little mark on U.S. foreign policy and appeared easily outmaneuvered by more aggressive and ideological members of the Bush team, some of whom may now be in line to succeed him.

Reaction to the announcement varied by region. Some African officials, accustomed to a lack of U.S. interest in their problems, praised Powell for pushing African issues onto the administration's agenda. In the Middle East, where Powell's impassioned argument for war with Iraq before the United Nations cost him many admirers, he was described as mostly ineffectual.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52661-2004Nov15.html

[tsuki]

1. "Many people said"

In-depth journalist reporting.

[Straight Shooter]

2. Some people say ...

... Washington Post scrapes the bottom of the barrel.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

8. That would be an improvement

We've been Post subscribers for more than thirty years, and I've cancelled my subscription only once, during the Bush-Gore campaign. But, I did it because Gore was pissing me off.

It was once such a sterling publication. Katharine Graham is spinning in her grave, I'll wager, at the sight of her once-brave newspaper - remember the Pentagon Papers and Watergate? - now reduced to kneeling before the Bush White House, head back, mouth wide open, gag reflex suspended.

With all that's going on in the world, this morning's front page was a big color photo of - you got it! - the World Soccer League champions. Hardly a whisper about Iraq.

It's totally fucking unreadable, and the NY Times is just as bad.

[Democat]

3. Robert Novak starts many lying columns with "sources tell me..."

The media, like Novak, writes their own opinion and tries to pass it off like someone important told them whatever they want people to believe.

[tsuki]

4. "They say"

was a McCarthyism of the '50's. They say, they say, they say...

The only ones every to ask "Who" was Fred Friendly and Edward R. Murrow.

They are no longer around. I guess it's DU's responsibility now.

[bemildred]

7. "I just pulled this out of my ass ..."

Really deep.

[leesa]

5. I'm sure most are glad to be rid of the lying thug.

POS Powell.

[global1]

6. So Now We'll Have A ......

dishonest broker within an administration that was highly unpopular overseas and whose motives have been particularly questioned in Europe and the Middle East.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

9. So?

How is Rice any different from any of the thugs in this White House?

Just, please God, don't let her smile. That phony, ingratiating, suckass smile on that fucking puss of hers during the 9/11 testimony had me lunging at the TV. I don't want to see that again, because, frankly, something around here's gonna get dead if that happens.

[Goathead]

10. Journalism

When the reporters are reporting on themselves, that is not journalism. Like all that crap about them being embedded, when the corespondent is the center of the new story, that is not news either. More and more the nightly "news" is starting to resemble a tabloid T.V. news show. Edward R. Murrow is spinning in his grave!

[antistoic]

11. You mean that job actually has power?

I thought cheney had final say...

[Sandpiper]

12. Many People Said

They couldn't decide if Powell was a complete sellout, or just an ineffectual jag off.

[pinniped]

13. Those who hate * should naturally hate Bowell. I have to believe...

the majority of people around the world want these assholes out of office and into prison where they belong.