Word: rumsfeld
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...campaign trail, Bush had dismissed the treaty's provisions as unverifiable and unenforceable, although his defense secretary nominee, Donald Rumsfeld, goes a lot further. Rumsfeld's complaint is that the CTBT would restrain the U.S. from developing a new generation of nuclear weapons - which is, of course, exactly what the treaty is designed to do: stop the arms race. Shalikashvili was mandated by President Clinton to meet with senators opposed to the treaty, and the result is a series of compromise proposals, such as a 10-year review and tighter verification procedures, designed to lure skeptics across the Senate floor...
...unwise scheme that will provoke Russia to abandon existing arms control agreements. Some analysts suspect that if the administration does plow ahead on missile defense, ratifying the CTBT may become seen as a sop to Europe. Placating the Europeans, of course, will be General Powell's job. Secretary-designate Rumsfeld may not want to see it done at the expense of a new generation of U.S. nuclear weapons. And that would leave Messrs. Bush and Cheney presiding over some interesting conversations...
...First, though, the sure shots: Colin Powell and Paul O'Neill can start ordering business cards for their respective posts as secretary of state and treasury secretary. Ditto Ann Veneman for Agriculture, Mel Martinez for HUD, and Norm Mineta at Transportation. Donald Rumsfeld, the nominee for defense secretary, probably won't face any real challenge - after all, he's done the job before - and confirmation for Spencer Abraham (Energy), Rod Paige (Education) and Anthony Principi (Veterans Affairs) is likely to be quick and clean...
Bush seems to be very serious about keeping his promises on the military. Thursday he promised a billion-dollar pay raise for service members, talked at length about remaking the military with modern technology, and promised Rumsfeld would "challenge the status quo at the Pentagon." And he's not interested in grandstanders or hot-button types, just old hands who can get the job done. Even if he risks looking like the only kid at the grown-up table...
...could just find a few Democrats. Bush noted that while the other party was taking his calls, he wasn't getting any takers either. Well, as Rumsfeld himself noted with what might have been a tinge of regret, the CIA job is wide open again...