Powell Inherits Iraq Mess

What a sad story of sacrifice; his whole life's contributions wiped out in less than three years of the Bush presidency. Powell's fall from grace with the American People makes you wonder how so many are willing to sacrifice so much for so little. Bush's proclivity to throw out the baby with the bath water has struck again.

You mean fall from the grace of the Liberals who disagree with him, right? You hardly speak for all the American people.

McGent, You're absolutely right - this time. I'm only guessing about how the American People are responding to Colin Powell - and the way he's been treated by this administration.

Disgrace
Most likely most of the American people won't even be aware of Powell's disgrace. Many probably don't even now what his position is in the Govt. The ignorance of most Americans is astounding when it comes to politics and most don't care. Do you need to see a Poll to prove this?

Powell should have resigned with dignity intact when they pressured him to lie to the UN. He didn't. It's his own fault that he has dishonored himself and America.

I have yet to see Powell disgrace himself. All I have seen is the media say he has and a few liberals berate him.

See?
Did you see his performance in front of the UN regarding WMDs?

I did. I thought he gave a fine speech detailing everything that would lead us to war. He represented my country quite well. I say my country, because you obviously don't think he supported YOUR country very well.

Oh boy. Turning a difference of opinion about the ethical nature of an action into a declaration of there being different countries.

Mcgentrix - dissonance is a part of political life. Why do you say it means there are two different countries?

That seems to me to be a hopeless position - leaving no room for honest understanding of difference, and respect for it.

Is that not what you say your country is built on?

It was a metaphor describing the la-la-land in which Pistoff lives.

Facts
Stick A Fork In Colin Powell;

He's DoneBy Kenneth Quinnell

A few years back, the conventional wisdom on Colin Powell was that he was an honest and honorable man. We weren't quite sure why, as a black man, he joined the Republican Party. It made a bit of sense when you take into account his military background, but seemed at odds with almost all of his stances on social issues.We let him slide on that one because we thought maybe he could bring a voice of reason to the administration's foreign policy and maybe even, if we were lucky, have some impact on other administration policies.

We were hopeful that since he was an honest and honorable man, he could be a good influence on Bush and his allies.We got a bit worried, though, when Powell made his ridiculous case to the U.N. on the war with Iraq.

As smart as Powell is, he knew that most, if not all, of the information he was spouting was bullshit. For some reason, he seemed to throw that honesty and honor out the window in order to support Bush. We knew he was lying and distorting the truth, but we were willing to give him a little bit of wiggle room - maybe he really thought Iraq could be a threat, maybe he had more info he wasn't giving us, maybe he really was worried about WMDs and thought that they had to be taken care of, even if it meant lying to the world.Now this statement comes to light:

We had a good discussion, the Foreign Minister and I and the President and I, had a good discussion about the nature of the sanctions -- the fact that the sanctions exist -- not for the purpose of hurting the Iraqi people, but for the purpose of keeping in check Saddam Hussein's ambitions toward developing weapons of mass destruction.

We should constantly be reviewing our policies, constantly be looking at those sanctions to make sure that they are directed toward that purpose. That purpose is every bit as important now as it was ten years ago when we began it. And frankly they have worked. He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors. So in effect, our policies have strengthened the security of the neighbors of Iraq, and these are policies that we are going to keep in place, but we are always willing to review them to make sure that they are being carried out in a way that does not affect the Iraqi people but does affect the Iraqi regime's ambitions and the ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction, and we had a good conversation on this issue.

When did Powell say this? February 24, 2001. More than a year before his presentation at the U.N., Powell knew that Saddam didn't have any WMDs and knew that Iraq wasn't a threat to its neighbors. He knew that the sanctions and inspections were working. He knew, when he gave his speech before the U.N. that everything he was saying was untrue.

Now that this information has been brought back to our attention, Powell should immediately resign. He misled the American people. He misled the world community. He lied to support a partisan agenda and disgraced the uniform that had brought him so much honor and fame. He disgraced the military he served so well in the past. He lied and soldiers have died because of his lies. If Powell hadn't made that case before the U.N., it is unlikely that the American people would have fallen behind the war as they did. Powell brought what we thought was a voice of sanity to the administration, when, in reality, he was just another partisan hack.

Powell is a disgrace to the uniform he wears. Powell is un-American and is a traitor to his country. He lied and American soldiers have died because of his lies. He needs to step down and admit his lies - it's the only way to salvage his once-honorable name.Posted by Kenneth Quinnell

http://www.ospolitics.org/usa/archives/2003/09/26/stick_a_fo.php

Kenneth Quinnell seems quite opinionated. He should go on TV and use his powers to read peoples minds and know what they know as a gimick to make millions. It will help him finish his masters degree.

If he did then he would be in good company with the major cable news pundits.

I agree completely with pistoff about Colin Powell. It has been painful watching him fall these last few years. As for why he joined the Bush administration, it is my speculation that he did it so that he could be in position to do some thing that he might of wanted to do. I got the feeling his main passion was two places, Africa and the Israel/Palestine crises. Maybe he thought if he helped with the Iraq war thing they could concentrate on those issues. But it obviously didn't work and it seems that he compromised his principles in vain.

Again, that is just my speculation which could not be true, after all I am not a mind reader. However, people can form opinions of motivations so to speak based on past actions and words or just plain old intuition.