Powell tipped to be US ambassador

[emad]

By Jason Beattie, Evening Standard Political Correspondent
21 September 2004

Snip

US secretary of state Colin Powell is the main candidate to be the next American ambassador to London, the Evening Standard has learned. Mr Powell is widely expected to step down from his current post after the presidential elections in November.

It is understood President Bush, if re-elected, may use the offer of the ambassadorship, one of the most sought-after diplomatic postings, to ease the departure of Mr Powell, 67.

The post would continue to give him a platform on the world stage and he would remain a useful conduit between the president and Europe. However, it is uncertain whether Mr Powell would accept the posting. It offers a dignified way into retirement after an illustrious career in the US army and Washington, but it would mean passing up lucrative offers from the lecture circuit.

Mr Powell may also regard the post as a climbdown after running the state department. He has had an uncomfortable time as secretary of state for a hawkish presidency. In the run-up to the Iraq war he reportedly struggledto gain the president's ear. One insider account claimed Mr Powell was so cut off he relied on newspaper reports to find what Mr Bush and defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld were thinking.

The London post has been vacant since July when William Farish announced he was stepping down after less than three years in the job. It is traditionally filled by a political appointee chosen by the president.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/13301646?source=Evening%20Standard


I don't think so! First, the disgusting truth about WHY Farish was given the order of the boot in July will have to come out and it won't be pretty.

Second, Regent's Park ain't big enough for another BFEE asshole to take up residence in Winfield House.

[lil-petunia]

1. re: Farish, any clue, what the dirt might be?

Or are you speculating aloud? Just curious.

[Jane Austin]

13. Where did I read that Farish was Poppy Bush's

very closest friend and the one who ran his blind trust when he was VP?

I believe he is the grandson of the CEO of Standard Oil (during WWII, who was charged and convicted, I think, of colluding with the Nazis. He subsequently committed suicide.

Farish's father was a Navy pilot in WWII and died in a plane crash.

Poppy's friend Farish, the former British ambassador, therefore he inherited his huge Standard Oil fortune at the age of four.

I believe he's lived most of his life as sort of a reclusive zillionaire in Houston.

[Minstrel Boy]

2. emad, you're such a tease!

"Disgusting truth" about Farish's departure? Please, do spill.

[emad]

5. Ain't teasin, just treading on the enigmatic....Farish and his wife

are being sued by one of the largest property owners in the Crown Estate who own nearby St John's Lodge, The Holme** (both in the Inner Circle), Hanover Lodge and approx 200 other Nash houses in Regents Park. St John's Lodge and The Holme are a mere 5 minute stroll away from Winfield House, which is in the Outer Circle while Hanover Lodge is right bang opposite Winfield House.

The issue is slander and defamation. Farish's wife publicly smeared the plaintiffs - whose case comes up in the Royal Courts of Justice in London early next year - as being "unprosecutable in the UK law courts on charges of terrorism due to a mental illness". The plaintiffs are counter-suing with evidence that Farish's wife paid third parties, in London and elsewhere, to spread this rumour to cover the fact she had signed an affidavit in the UK admitting delusional/paranoid behaviour as certified by two independent psychiatrists. Also that she paid independent contractors to bug the plaintiffs' telephone, e-mail and steal their mail.

Don't know if there will be any settling out of court. A full 15 rounds with no strings attached for the press would see to be far preferable....


Pic:
**http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.donaldinsallassociates.co.uk/project%2520gallery/the_holme.htm&h=179&w=206&sz=13&tbnid=5tu1NDfUuuIJ:&tbnh=86&tbnw=98&start=2&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dthe%2Bholme%2Bregents%2Bpark%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DG

[starroute]

16. I find this note in my files -- not sure what it means

I don't know where I got it, and Google doesn't turn up the original, but I found this bit of gossip in my files:

"NO official explanation given about what Farish was dumped so unceremoniously from top London posting in June.

"The buzz at London's prestigeous Foreign Correspondents' Club says Farish's wife Sarah was interviewed by UK police in June re her involvement in the now defunct French media giant Versailles whose chairman/c.e.o. Carl Cushnie has been arrested for fraud/embezzlement along with his financial director. By 'involvement' I take it that what's implied is that she was a concealing an investment which was not quite....er....kosher."


On edit: I also find notes suggesting links between Farish's fall and the problems besetting Riggs Bank. One says the blind trusts Farish was managing for both Bushes during their presidencies were in Riggs Bank accounts.


On second edit: Farish's wife, the former Sarah Sharp, is a person of interest in herself. Her father, Bayard Sharp, was a close friend of Bush Sr.'s. Her paternal grandmother was a DuPont, sister of the three DuPonts who were Nazi supporters and plotted to overthrow FDR in the 30's.

[Wednesdays]

3. Didn't Powell want out of the * administration?

:shrug:

[Fleshdancer]

4. hmm....

It can't be a good sign when the Sec. of State is jumping ship, can it? And we're not talking about stepping down to "spend more time with his family" this guy is stepping down and then LEAVING THE COUNTRY! lol

[Jane Austin]

14. The most patriotic thing Powell could do,

would be to resign his position before the election and say publicly what he said privately recently. He called the neocons of the Bush administration "F'ing Crazies" except he used the whole word.

He denies saying it now, but there were plenty of witnesses.

I don't expect him to do it, but if he did, he could maybe save the country and his own reputation in history, too.

[BootinUp]

6. seems like an insult

to a former Sec. of State., unless he wanted to live abroad.

[emad]

7. "it would mean passing up lucrative offers from the lecture circuit"

or tasty directorships at Carlyle, or Riggs Bank, or....
Maybe they'll send him to the Vatican instead..

[Minstrel Boy]

8. Conversely, it could be seen as a reward for the UK

for being such a faithful bootlick.

[BiggJawn]

9. He should be "ambassador" to Spandau prison....

Locked up, y'know....

[progressivebydesign]

10. Rats, meet water. Bye ship!

Hmmm.. poor Powell. I don't agree with the guy at all.. but I found Alec Baldwin's assessment of him to be true. Powell squandered the good image he had built, the political potential, by being part of Bush's fucked up administration. Now he's put out to pasture.

I hope these stories resonate with voters.. they'll see something is wrong!

[DrWeird]

11. Gee, I wonder how the Labor Party will feel about that.

nt

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

12. I wonder if Bush intends to replace him with a Neocon

But we will probably never know, since Bush won't be getting a second term.

[Jane Austin]

15. Somebody reported yesterday that

Condi will be Secy of State, Wolfowitz will be Defense Secy, and Carbone? will be National Security Advisor.

Can you imagine a worse cabinet?

[halfso]

17. I read that National Sec Adviser would be Stephen Hadley,

not Cambone, but with Wolfowitz and Rice at Defense and State, respectively. Maybe it was a different article... Either way, not good. Cambone is more of a dedicated NeoCon, though, so may be worse. Also, either way, not gonna happen... I'd still like to see Wes Clark at Defense or State when Kerry gets to where he's going.

[Jane Austin]

18. Duh. You're right. I need more coffee. :)

n/t

Hadley is in Cheney's office, isn't he?

Cambone is one of Rumsfeld's boys.