Monday, June 16, 2008

Colin Powell slams Bush - Welcome, but overdue.


Colin Powell slams Bush, From the Vancouver Sun:

"...But Colin Powell said Thursday in Vancouver that he is considering voting for Democrat Barack Obama in November -- and he took shots at the Bush administration's handling of the Iraq war and the holding of terrorism suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

...The former secretary of state discussed the controversy that drew a small but loud protest outside the convention centre -- Powell's use of flawed intelligence during his 2003 presentation at the United Nations to sell the world on the invasion of Iraq.

Powell told the audience that he wouldn't have agreed with the decision to go to war had he known that the data about Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction was exaggerated.

Powell said that every word of what he called his "infamous" presentation about WMD had been vetted by the intelligence community -- "and I had no reason to disbelieve it."
The former secretary of state has previously described his prewar UN speech as a "blot" on his record.


Powell went on to say that the Bush administration fell into "disarray" over how to govern Iraq after it overthrew Hussein.

"If we had handled the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad differently then we wouldn't be where we are today," said Powell....

...Powell said the use of torture and denial of habeas corpus at the prison for suspected terrorists at the U.S. military base in Guantanamo has diminished America's standing in the world. "It [Guantanamo] is not a seen as a place that is consistent with what America says justice will be."

...Powell said that torture, including water-boarding, should stop at Guantanamo and that terrorism suspects should be given lawyers and afforded all the rights of the American criminal justice system....

..."We will not be terrified into changing our way of life because of some guy [Osama bin Laden] hiding in a cave somewhere in Afghanistan."

I was always most disappointed with Secretary Powell out of all of the Bush appointees, but that is because I always expected the most from him.

His reluctance to trash the Bushies to the extent he must be able is a measure of the man's loyalty and devotion to duty.

I just wish his loyalty had not been so misplaced in certain people, rather than in the institutions he swore to protect.

His endorsement, when it comes, should prove interesting.

Catch you later.....

No comments: