: Powell on ABC

Post #224,070 by Ashton 9/10/05 5:19:47 AM Reply	: Powell on ABC Via [link\|http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html?blog=/politics/war_room/2005/09/09/powell/index.html\| Salon] Out, damned spot! Salon editorial fellow Aaron Kinney examines the stain on Colin Powell's r\ufffdsum\ufffd. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell told ABC's Barbara Walters in [link\|http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/09/politics/09powell.html\| an interview] to be aired tonight that his presentation to the United Nations in 2003 on Iraq's WMD capabilities is a "blot" on his record that is "painful" for him. Powell did not say, however, that he regrets the decision to invade Iraq. Powell, who said he was misled by "some people in the intelligence community" who "didn't speak up," added that the United States erred by not supplying enough troops immediately following the invasion to ensure security and impose its will on the country. Powell said he does not blame former CIA Director George Tenet for the faulty information he relied on. Powell's interview will air in the wake of [link\|http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/12585146.htm\| two bombings] Wednesday in the southern Iraqi city of Basra that killed four U.S. contractors and about 30 Iraqi civilians. Meanwhile, Iraq's draft constitution faces [link\|http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-09-08T144043Z_01_MCC849913_RTRIDST_0_INTERNATIONAL-IRAQ-CONSTITUTION-DC.XML\| another delay] as fresh amendments on the subject of regional autonomy have reportedly been proposed. In a positive development, an American contractor held hostage near Baghdad has been rescued from his captors and is on his way back to the United States. Also, U.S. forces have reported the capture of 200 suspected insurgents near the Syrian border, many of them foreign fighters. So the slog in Iraq goes on, and Powell bears his share of the responsibility. While it's satisfying to hear him admit what we all know -- that his U.N. presentation was a sham -- forgive us if we're underwhelmed. Wake us up when he starts talking about the conversations that took place in the Oval Office and in Cabinet meetings between 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Don't set the alarm, though. It could be a long nap. Poor bastard.. this must be like seppuku with a bamboo sword (the kind the Shogun supplies for your personal discomfort and inconvenience.. when he doesn't want you exiting too ... swiftly).
Post #224,080 by mmoffitt 9/10/05 8:38:42 AM Reply	Colon doesn't deserve pity. And that sure as hell is not the only "blot" on his resume. Research his involvement in My Lai - he tried to cover it up, plain and simple. He's a bastard, a perfect fit in the Berk's administration. Feh! He was misled. B.S. He has a history of lying when its convenient. bcnu, Mikem It would seem, therefore, that the three human impulses embodied in religion are fear, conceit, and hatred. The purpose of religion, one might say, is to give an air of respectibility to these passions. -- Bertrand Russell
Post #224,104 by JayMehaffey 9/10/05 12:02:04 PM Reply	I give him some Powell is a prime example of the military mind set that puts the chain of command and dedication to the service above everything else. And like several other military guys (not to mention some dedicated public servents from other branches of the government), he learned the hard way that under the Bush administration loyalty is a one way street and they are more concerned with their politcal advantage then the services being able to do their jobs. But you are right, the idea that Powell is some pristine political outsider is wrong. It is an example of the common but misguided and very dangerous belief that the military is beyond politics. Pentagon politics are rather different then other politics, and better concealed from the public at large. But there is just as much there as anywhere. Jay
Post #224,438 by Ashton 9/12/05 3:44:01 PM Reply	Minor nit: Bush wants not 'loyalists'; He demands Apostles.
Post #224,172 by Ashton 9/10/05 7:27:00 PM Reply	Cut him a \ufffdm of slack I mean we're All poor bastards at various confluences of as ye sow.. (yada) comeuppances, in this sordid Daily Play of Opposites within/without. In perspective: were I at F\ufffdhrer's side, at the exact moment when he realized that all his plans were irreversibly doomed to abject Failure, I (hope I..) would savor the Elation for several milliseconds, pat him for a couple seconds with a There.. there.. You Poor Bastard ... as I flipped-off the Safety from my Luger and shot the monster in each knee-cap and then .. (Didn't realize his role in My Lai), but IMO his Main character flaw was evidenced by .. how l o n g he remained with these jackals AFTER it was apparent (even to a machine-marching lover-of-hierarchies) that: he possessed No/nada influence there, beyond LBJ's famous pitcher-of-warm spit. I believe that revelatory \ufffd occurred sometime well Before the execrable UN speech; his grovelling in that venue, possessed of this knowledge: merely underscored his absence of personal integrity in the Big Things. [short form] Fuck'im.

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