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By George Gedda
The Associated Press
Monday, November 15, 2004; 9:53 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50926-2004Nov15.html

Secretary of State Colin Powell has reportedly told top aides he intends to resign from President Bush's Cabinet, high-ranking State Department officials said Monday.

Powell, who long has been rumored planning only a single term with Bush, told his aides that he intends to leave once Bush settles on whom to succeed him, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Word of Powell's imminent departure kicked off a new week of Cabinet shuffling for Bush, who is planning his second term.

The White House was preparing an announcement to confirm Powell's resignation. According to one official, Powell expects that his departure date will be sometime in January. It was not immediately clear whether he will leave before Bush's second inauguration on Jan 20.

Most of the speculation on a successor has centered on U.N. Ambassador John Danforth, a Republican and former U.S. senator from Missouri.

Powell has had a controversial tenure in the chief of state's job, reportedly differing on some key issues at various junctures with Secretary of State Donald H. Rumsfeld. Powell, however, has generally had good relations with his counterparts around the world, although his image standing has been strained by the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Powell, a former chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff, led the Bush administration argument at the United Nations for a military attack to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, arguing a weapons-of-mass-destruction threat that the administration could never buttress.

Four more to bail -- Veneman, Rod "teachers are terrorists" Paige and Abraham are also gone. Rice being touted as new SecState. Given her colossal incompetence as NSA, that's a thought to turn your bowels to water.

Colin Powell submits resignation
Condoleezza Rice is 'likely' successor, senior U.S. official says

Monday, November 15, 2004 Posted: 11:51 AM EST (1651 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has submitted his resignation to President Bush, the White House said on Monday.

National security adviser Condoleezza Rice is the "likely" choice to succeed Powell, a senior U.S. official told CNN.

Rice is "the president's choice," and an announcement is likely this week, another senior U.S. official said.

Powell is the most prominent of four Cabinet officials whose resignations are expected to be announced Monday, sources told CNN.

The others will be Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman, Education Secretary Rod Paige and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, the sources said.

Powell told his senior staff that he planned to stay on until a replacement was confirmed, State Department officials said.

State Department officials said that Bush and Powell decided mutually that it was time for him to go.

The White House said Powell had been in discussions with Bush about his resignation.

Some administration officials said the secretary had talked of staying on for a month to three months into the new term, because of he wanted to advance a few priorities before stepping down.

But White House officials said it was decided that the secretary's resignation should be announced now.

Several officials said the White House bore no ill will toward Powell, but simply desired to move smoothly through the Cabinet transitions. One said that, had Powell stayed longer, it would have "a ripple effect" on other planned changes.

"It wasn't so much time for him, as it was time for the president," one senior official said, adding that Powell and Bush had been discussing his potential resignation for some time and had come to "mutual agreement."

The State Department officials said that Powell plans to keep working on a number of key issues, including North Korean nuclear talks, the Iraqi elections scheduled for January and the Middle East peace process.

Powell was scheduled to travel to Egypt next week for a conference on Iraq.

A senior official said Monday that the State Department was trying to arrange a meeting between Powell and the new Palestinian leadership, but added the details have not been worked out. A date and place have not been set, the official said.

The official made the comment after Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath told reporters in Gaza City that Powell was expected to meet with the leadership next week in the West Bank.