European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 22, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse May 2007 stars and stripes Mideast edition Page 13 opinion Wolfowitz meet real world demands by Lawrence Wilkerson when i was assigned to the Pacific command in the we military officers would often discuss the ambassadors in our theater of operations a huge area embracing More than 30 countries and most of the Pacific and Indian one name came up constantly As one of the Best of the Best ambassador to Indonesia Paul he understood the Cul the people and the special circumstances of the worlds most populous Muslim and he did a Superb Job in dealing with that country within the context of National Security my wonder Over the last few years at Wolfowitz from my first at the then at the state i watched the talented Wolfowitz How could such a intelligent ambassador transom Grimy into the petulant old Man i watched fighting unsuccessfully to keep his Job As president of the world Bank there were Early in when both of us were at the Pentagon i worked for Colin then chairman of the joint chiefs of and Wolfowitz for thence sense Secretary Dick Cheney i discovered that Wolfowitz was geared entirely to conceptual thinking and not to practical a planning and detail and the disciplined routine that government but there was Powell was certain that the soviet Union was Woulfow Robert Gates at the Cheney and a Host of retired military officers were certain the soviets would be in Wolfowitz i saw something different from the others a stubborn refusal to see beyond the evil of the evil for Wol it was an ideological Blind and that made it All the More i also saw More Stark evidence of what a poor manager Wolfowitz he had no idea How to make the trains run on time and seemed to inclination to do talented people left his shop saying they could get nothing papers sat in inboxes for Ages with no and the need to Deal with daily min crises was sup planted by the desire to turn out hugely complicated but elegantly expressed concepts and the rest of the workaday Pentagon largely ignored Wolfowitz policy shop As when defense Secretary Donald rums Feld picked Wolfowitz in 2000 As his Deputy to make All the trains in the Pentagon run on time those of us who were familiar with Wolfowitz knew a train wreck would it almost As nothing got through the Roadblock of the Deputy of As pos invasion planning for Iraq was called Wolfowitz and the 3 Man in the Douglas proved their administrative by that i was working for Secretary of state and there was increasing friction be tween us and the we watched in the arrogance of his Power and the hubris of his totally ignore the chaos beneath working with Novice president Cheney to drive All trains to Bagh the Deputy Secretary of state Richard who had worked at the Pentagon for years before going to the state depart once told me that Wolfowitz had to Telephone him to discover what was happen ing in Wolfowitz own when Wolfowitz left the Pentagon under some what of a Cloud because of the deteriorating situation in the bureaucracy breathed a sigh of Relief not because the architect of the War had departed but because we longed for a Deputy who could get the trains unscrambled half a trillion dollars Worth of crashing trains at the Center of the Federal bureaucracy is a hell of a but when we heard that Wolfowitz was going to the world Bank As its we knew that it would be Only a matter of time before disaster struck again that Wolfowitz Lack of manage rial and leadership skills would derail him once now it has Powell used to say that dreamers rarely succeed unless they build firm foundations beneath their but to do you need help and a willingness to get your hands dirty in the real was always beneath Paul and that is what undid Lawrence a retired served 31 years in the army and was chief of staff to Secretary of state Colin Powell from 2002 to 2005 he is now a visiting professor at the College of William Mary in this column first appeared in the los Angeles burned at the mistake smoking bring r h thanks Al i Chester own this for a puff of Nanny ism movies can now receive an r rating for depicting a perfectly Legal to pressure from antismoking lighting up on screen will now Factor into the ratings be stowed by the motion picture association of the Paa announced the move this and film goers who like a touch of realism in their flicks got off Lucky the Paa bragged it had resisted Calls to stick a mandatory r tag on any movie where pigs Are Way to stand up for artistic Freedom i May be a native North but in not a smoker never have been and have no love for Cigar Chaws or in i recall the sheer number of cancer stick addicts As the worst thing about living in eur i wish the cussed things not europeans had never been they Arent called coffin nails for in not certain whom the Paa and antismoking groups think there protect tobacco control groups regularly Point to studies postulating a link Between onscreen cigarette use and youth hence the ratings but a bit of perspective amid the crusading would be other including one from the University of North show that Chil Drens exposure to All sorts of Media including Access to television also has a correlation with i wonder How Many antismoking advocates let their own Chil Dren have bedroom or How Long it will be before interest groups try to regulate to owners these any kid with a pulse knows about the dangers of can cite Chap Ter and verse Why its a stupid and any impressionable child headed to the mov ies will first have to run the smokers gaunt let outside the mall before he even Steps foot into the whats next a restraining order Banning kids from coming within 500 feet of the entrances to government restau private Homes or anywhere else smokers glamorous or otherwise might be spotted if you think the Downwi tobacco crusade stops with mov British antismoking groups have moved to ban the practice in private be alleging that lighting cigarettes causes what they mean is inattention in All forms including changing eating while driving and swatting at children causes will they try to ban child Passen too like it or cigarettes Are and in Many puffing onscreen is i cant imagine the character of Edward Murrow in Good night and Good Luck without his eve present or the Fate of the satirical thank you for smoking under the Maas new or the leg crossing interrogation scene in Basic instinct where Sharon Stone uttered the movies Best line what re you going to do charge me with smoking you and your its Only a matter of time before other dogo oders leap on the in obesity replaced smoking As the nations leading cause of preventable and car accidents kill Ameri cans each so while smoking can Garner a stricter rat ing meaning a flick will Likely have a smaller audience daredevil driving or scarfing cheeseburgers and Coke is still for i dont look to the movies for i look to them for and id be willing to bet Many kids after the fun of movies is watching others do what you cant or you cannot legislate away the real at what Point do grownups allow kids to see scenes that serve As catalysts for parental discussions on right and wrong and therein lies the problem its parents responsibility that of movie directors or Trade associations to teach kids the consequences of harmful behaviour they anyone advocating otherwise is just blowing Bronwyn Chester is a Mcclatchy Tribune news service prickly City by Scott Stantis one
