Richard Armitage

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For the British actor of the same name, see Richard Armitage (actor).
Richard L. Armitage
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Richard L. Armitage

Richard Lee Armitage (born April 26, 1945) was the 13th United States Deputy Secretary of State, the second-in-command at the State Department, serving from 2001 to 2005. Previously, he was a high-ranking troubleshooter and negotiator in the Departments of State and Defense.

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[edit] Early life and military career

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Armitage graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1967, where he was commissioned an Ensign in the U.S. Navy. He served on a destroyer stationed in Vietnam and subsequently completed three combat tours with the riverine/advisory forces in Vietnam.[1]

According to Captain Kiem Do, a Republic of Vietnam Navy officer who served with him in Vietnam, Armitage "seemed drawn like a 'moth to flame' to the hotspots of the naval war: bedding down on the ground with Vietnamese commandos, sharing their rations and hot sauce, telling jokes in flawless Vietnamese."[2] Instead of a uniform, Armitage often dressed in native garb, and was nicknamed Tran Van Phu by the Vietnamese."[3] It has been frequently, and inaccurately, reported that Armitage was a member of the elite Navy SEALs, a mischaracterization that Armitage now corrects in interviews. He was a naval advisor and not a SEAL.

In 1973, Armitage left active duty and joined the office of the U.S. Defense Attache in Saigon. Immediately prior to the fall of Saigon, he organized and led the removal of Vietnamese naval assets and personnel from the country to Subic Bay, Philippines in 1975.[4]

[edit] Public service career

After leaving Saigon in May 1975 [NOTE -- need amplify re date, or correct, since "fall" of Saigon and U.S. evacuation thereof was April 30, 1975], Armitage came to Washington, DC to serve as a consultant for the United States Department of Defense. However, he was immediately sent overseas again, and served in Tehran, Iran until November 1976. Following this posting, he moved to Bangkok and operated an import/export business in the private sector for two years. In 1978, he returned to the U.S. and began work as an aide to Senator Bob Dole, and in late 1980 served as a foreign policy advisor to President-elect Ronald Reagan.

Following this role, Armitage was made a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, a very high-ranking post in The Pentagon. He served in this position from 1981 to 1983. In June 1983, he was promoted to Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security. While there, he represented the Department of Defense in developing politico-military relationships and initiatives throughout the world, spearheaded U.S. Pacific security policy including the U.S.-Japan and U.S.-China security relationships, managed all Defense Department security assistance programs, and provided oversight of policies related to the law of the sea, U.S. special operations, and counter-terrorism. He played a leading role in Middle East Security Policies.

Armitage left this post in 1989 to serve as a special negotiator for the President on military bases in the Philippines, and as a mediator on water issues in the Middle East. In 1991, he was appointed a special emissary to King Hussein of Jordan. Following this, he was sent to Europe with the title of ambassador; his assignment was to direct U.S. foreign aid to the states that had been formed out of the fallen Soviet Union. He served here until 1993, at which point he entered the private sector.

He signed "The Project for the New American Century" letter (PNAC Letter) to President Bill Clinton in 1998. The letter urged Clinton to target the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime from power in Iraq due to erosion of the Gulf War Coalition's containment policy and the resulting possibility that Iraq might create weapons of mass destruction. The letter's intended purpose of removing Hussein was to protect Israel and other U.S. allies in the region including oil-producing Arab countries.

During the 2000 U.S. Presidential election campaign, Armitage served as a foreign policy advisor to George W. Bush as part of a group led by Condoleezza Rice that called itself The Vulcans.

The United States Senate confirmed him as Deputy Secretary of State on March 23, 2001; he was sworn in on March 26 of the same year. A close associate of Secretary of State Colin Powell, Armitage was regarded, along with Powell, as a moderate within the presidential administration of George W. Bush. Armitage tendered his resignation on November 16, 2004, the day after Powell announced his resignation as Secretary of State. Armitage left the post on February 22, 2005, when Robert Zoellick succeeded the office.

[edit] Life after public service

There was some media speculation that President Bush would appoint Armitage to a key security position such as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Director of National Intelligence or Defense Secretary. As of 2006, Armitage has not re-entered public service.

On May 10, 2006, Armitage was elected to the board of directors of the ConocoPhillips oil company.

In October 2006, Armitage lobbied on behalf of the L-3 Communications Corporation, a company providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance products, to key people in the Taiwanese political circle regarding the possible purchase of P-3C marine patrol aircraft for the Taiwan military. Those who received his personal letter include Premier Su Tseng-chang, President of the Legislative Yuan Wang Jin-pyng, and opposition People First Party leader James Soong. Armitage in the letter stated that he wishes Taiwan can reconsider the possible purchase through Lockheed Martin, the dealer the United States government had designated. Instead, he hopes that the right to negotiate the purchase should be made through an open and fair bidding process.[3] The letter was made public by PFP Legislators on October 24, 2006 in a Legislative Yuan session discussing the military purchases.[4]

[edit] Valerie Plame investigation

Main article: Plame affair

Journalist Bob Woodward of the Washington Post revealed on November 15, 2005 that "a government official with no ax to grind" leaked to him the identity of outed CIA officer Valerie Plame in mid-June 2003. According to an April 2006 Vanity Fair article (published March 14, 2006), former Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee said in an interview "That Armitage is the likely source is a fair assumption," though Bradlee later told the Post that he "[did] not recall making that precise statement" in the interview.[5]

On March 2, 2006, bloggers discovered that "Richard Armitage" fit the spacing on a redacted court document, suggesting he was a source for the Plame leak.[6]

On August 21, 2006, the Associated Press published a story that revealed Armitage met with Bob Woodward in mid-June 2003. The information came from official State Department calendars, provided to The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act.[7]

In the September 4, 2006 issue of Newsweek magazine, in an article titled "The Man Who Said Too Much," journalist Michael Isikoff, quoting a "source directly familiar with the conversation who asked not to be identified because of legal sensitivities," reported that Armitage was the "primary" source for Robert Novak's piece outing Plame; Armitage apparently mentioned Ms. Wilson's CIA role to Novak in a July 8, 2003 interview.[8] Isikoff also reported that Armitage had also told Bob Woodward of Plame's identity in June 2003, and that special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald investigated Armitage's role "aggressively," but did not charge Armitage with a crime because he "found no evidence that Armitage knew of Plame's covert CIA status when he talked to Novak and Woodward."

Novak, in an August 27, 2006 appearance on Meet the Press, stated that although he still would not release the name of his source, he felt it was long overdue that the source reveal himself.[9]

Armitage has also reportedly been a cooperative and key witness in the investigation.[5] According to The Washington Note, Armitage has testified before the grand jury three times.[10]

On August 29, 2006 Neil A. Lewis of The New York Times reported that Armitage was the "initial and primary source" for columnist Robert Novak's July 14, 2003 article, which named Valerie Plame as a CIA "operative" and which triggered the CIA leak investigation.[11] On August 30th 2006, CNN reported that Armitage had been confirmed "by sources" as leaking Ms. Wilson's CIA role in a "casual conversation" with Robert Novak. [12] The New York Times, quoting people "familiar with his actions," reported that Armitage was unaware of Ms. Wilson's undercover status when he spoke to Novak.[13]

The Times claims that White House counsel Alberto Gonzales was informed that Armitage was involved on October 2, 2003, but asked not to be told details. Patrick Fitzgerald began his grand jury investigation three months later knowing Armitage was a leaker (as did Attorney General John Ashcroft before turning over the investigation). According to lawyers close to I. Lewis Libby, charged in October 2005 with perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak investigation, "the information about Mr. Armitage’s role may help Mr. Libby convince a jury that his actions were relatively inconsequential".[14] Fitzgerald has issued no statement about Armitage's involvement, and as of August 2006, the CIA leak investigation remains open.

On September 7th Armitage admitted to being the source in the CIA leak. [15] Armitage claims that Fitzgerald had originally asked him not to discuss publicly his role in the matter, but that on September 5 Armitage asked Fitzgerald if he could reveal his role to the public, and Fitzgerald consented. [16]

In a review of Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War, by Michael Isikoff and David Corn, which hit book stores in early September, 2006, Novak wrote: "I don't know precisely how Isikoff flushed out Armitage [as Novak's original source], but Hubris clearly points to two sources: Washington lobbyist Kenneth Duberstein, Armitage's political adviser, and William Taft IV, who was the State Department legal adviser when Armitage was deputy secretary."[6]

[edit] Pakistan and the War on Terror

President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf, in an interview with CBS News 60 minutes on September 21, 2006, alleged that Armitage called an ISI general immediately after the September 11th, 2001 attacks and threatened to "bomb the country (Pakistan) back to the stone age" unless they supported the US-led war on terror. Presently, Musharraf has refused to provide details, commenting that he is unable to provide details due to restrictions by the publisher (Simon & Schuster) of his upcoming book. President Bush on the other hand has mentioned that he only became aware of these comments as late as September 2006, when he read them in the newspapers. Armitage confirmed he had held a conversation with the Pakistani general Mr Musharraf had sourced the comments to, but said had not threatened military action.

Whatever he might have said, the public opinion is that America threatened Pakistan dire consequences if they didn't gave their bases to USAF command. A recent poll by the BBC urdu site showed that 88% belived that Musharraf was pressured. [7]

However, it is widely acknowleged that Armitage was vehemently opposed to the Iraq War, and was one of the key dissenters within the Bush Administration. Armitage has since denied using a threat couched in such terms, on the claimed basis that he was not authorized to do so.[8]

[edit] Trivia

  • Armitage is fluent in Vietnamese and versed in many other languages.
  • He is an active powerlifter.
  • He loves to play basketball.
  • Armitage received an honorary knighthood from the United Kingdom in December, 2005.
  • He was a linebacker at the United States Naval Academy with Roger Staubach.
  • Armitage is father to 8 children, 6 of whom are adopted and has fostered over 50 foster children over the years.
  • He is married to Laura Samfod Armitage.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Deputy Secretary of State Richard Lee Armitage, White House Bio, http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/armitager-bio.html.
  2. ^ Do Kiem and Julie Kane, Counterpart: A South Vietnamese Naval Officer's War, ISBN 1-55750-181-5, 1998, p. 164.
  3. ^ Do Kiem and Julie Kane, Counterpart: A South Vietnamese Naval Officer's War, ISBN 1-55750-181-5, 1998, p. 164.
  4. ^ Deputy Secretary of State Richard Lee Armitage, White House Bio, http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/armitager-bio.html.
  5. ^ Bazinet, Kenneth and Meek, James Gordon. "Ex-deputy secretary of state new figure in CIA leak probe", New York Daily News, May 20, 2006.
  6. ^ [1]Novak, Robert, "Who Said What When: The rise and fall of the Valerie Plame 'scandal'", The Weekly Standard, October 16, 2006, book review of Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War, by Michael Isikoff and David Corn, accessed October 8, 2008
  7. ^ [2]
  8. ^ http://dynamic.cnn.com/apps/tp/video/politics/2006/09/22/sot.armitage.pakistan.threat.cnn/video.ws.asx?NGUserID=
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