I Cogitate
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The Conundrum That Is Colin Powell
Just what will it take for Colin Powell to publicly react as a real human being and not as a by-the-book, always-follow-the-chain-of-command, subservient, standard-issue, timid government service worker?
Well, it's too late now and, yes, maybe I'm being a bit harsh but look at the missed opportunities Powell squandered at not only leaving his mark on the world but standing up for what he truly believes:
- He disagreed and knew there were too few troops being sent to Iraq to even entertain the possibility, however much a folly, of imposing order
- He either knew parts of his presentation to the U.N. about the justifications for invading Iraq were false or inadequate or he shirked employing common sense and doing his own investigating. He had been battling with and knew the Rumsfeld/Chaney cabal was not trustworthy.
Huh?
Colin, there's a major disconnect here. The troops get supported by demanding the requisite number be deployed in exchange for your nod. The troops get supported by demanding adequate vehicle and personal armor levels. Just what were you going to do for the grunts on the ground by remaining silent in your position as Secretary of State? Please do not say your plans were to influence President Bush? No, Tony Blair learned the hard way of the foolishness of such. No Colin, that doesn't wash.
Colin, in the latter, why would Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz have set up his Office of Special Plans, led by Douglas Feith, if it wasn't to manipulate 'evidence' and offer fabrications that corresponded in lockstep with the neo-con ideology? Rumsfeld already controlled the vast majority of the intelligence budget and collection activities with his command of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Even if he suspected Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) intelligence interpretations were false,incorrect or out-of-date, he had the DIA under his jurisdiction to counter such.
Colin, you have admitted you never saw any evidence of a Saddam-Al Queda connection. You failed to speak up but, good, that's a start.
Yet, you continue blaming some, but not the appropriate ones:
"some (members of the U.S. intelligence community) knew at that time that some of these sources were not good, and shouldn't be relied upon, and they didn't speak up. These are not senior people, but these are people who were aware that some of these resources should not be considered reliable. I was enormously disappointed."Colin, why the unusual trips out to Langley by warmongers like Vice President Dick Chaney and even Newt Gingrinch? You think it was to slap some backs and offer a few 'attaboys'? C'mon Colin, be honest with us.
Colin, you also pooh-poohed any gulf between yourself and your higherups, President Bush, VP Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and stated:
"There are some who say, 'well, you shouldn't have supported (the war), you should have resigned', but I'm glad that Saddam Hussein is gone."
Colin, that's a cute piece of camouflaging rhetoric. You accepted being used and abused by the above troika. The so-called 'blot on your record' is a result of your long-standing behavioral pattern. Quit the 'kiss up-kick down' act. You are capable of better than that.
Colin, you've surely heard and read of Elliott Richardson and William Ruckleshaus, who resigned their posts as Attorney General and deputy Attorney General respectively, for refusing an order to fire Nixon special prosecutor Archibald Cox.
Colin, where are you in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Your former boss brought in obviously unqualified political hacks--an act that needlessly endangered and cost the lives of so many innocents. Despite your lapses, you carry some moral gravitas. Use it.
Colin, it's called speaking to power and standing up for principles. Try it sometime. Your life has been one missed opportunity after another.
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