An interesting story on 'My-Lai' Powell, the man of a thousand (or more) lies. Apparently Powell's inclusion in the 1600 Crew was because it was a foregone conclusion that as a faithful retainer and lackey of Bush 41 he'd lend some gravitas to the administration of Preznit No Cattle.
That Powell sold his reputation for slightly more than the hookers in Northwest Washington, and ended up with less self-respect is a matter for historians to debate 100 years from now. I don't buy Powell's assertion that a good officer always gives a "Cheery Aye-Aye and Three Bags Full, Sir" and marches off a cliff, as Powell seems to assert.
...He had been purposely cut out of major foreign policy decisions more than once, and his advice often had gone unheeded or been only grudgingly accepted by the president. Why hadn't he resigned?
The easy answer had the virtue of truth: Soldiers didn't quit when they disagreed with the decisions of their commanders. The fact that he had been out of uniform for nearly a decade was irrelevant to Powell; he would be a soldier until he drew his last breath.
The oath that Officers take explicitly allows for the excercise of free-will and judgement, and confers on the oath-taker the onus of the acceptance of responsibility and accountability. Either Powell forgot that, or he seemingly never knew it. Eisenhower famously penned a note on the eve of D-Day accepting responsibility for the failure of the invasion, the note was never deliverd, but Ike understood that he even with the best of intelligence, some of the most skilled staff officers and allies he could still make a mistake in the launching of the invasion. He took the entire responsibility for the act.
Powell was handed literally pounds of crap by the White House political machine and told to make a golden table out of it to support the Preznit's rationale for going to war against Hussein and instead of acting like an Officer and calling bullshit, he acted like the four-star politician he was went along. Now he's all remorseful, yeah that works. So how many villagers died in My Lai, Major Powell?
His ignominious dismissal from the service of the family who found an articulate, popular African-American to be a convenient front man for their schemes is fitting.
When Powell saw the January 13 appointment on his calendar, his staff told him they assumed it was a goodbye photo opportunity with Bush. They suggested that perhaps he should bring his family.
"We've got a houseful of pictures," Powell replied dryly. Was he supposed to talk to the president? Or was the president supposed to talk to him?
"Am I supposed to say: 'This is what I think?' Or what?"
He didn't have to say anything, he was told. It was just a "farewell call."
...
The appointed time found Powell already in the Oval Office for a routine meeting; when it concluded, he lingered as the others left. As Powell later remembered it, Bush seemed puzzled and called after his departing chief of staff, "Where you going, Andy?"
"Mr. President, I think this is supposed to be our farewell call," Powell prompted.
"Is that why Condi ain't here?" he recalled the president asking.
That was probably the reason, Powell replied.
Card walked back inside, and the three men sat down. Powell had already decided to use the opportunity -- likely his last as secretary of state -- to unload.
...
...Bush dismissed his concern. It wasn't any worse, he said, than the legendary battles between State and Defense during the Reagan administration.
The session ended with a cordial handshake, and the secretary returned to the State Department. "That was really strange," he reported to Wilkerson. "The president didn't know why I was there."
IN a way Powell got exactly what he deserved, that ignominious dismissal by Preznit No Clue. The sad part is that Powell, like Rudy Giuliani, will probably continue to bask in the admiration of millions, get huge speaking fees and be revered for no reason other than the rewritten history of their past fleeting moments in the spotlight where they captured the public imagination.
Colin Powell has to live with himself for the destruction and long-term effects of the war in Iraq. Had he chosen not to play the "good soldier", public opinion about the need to go into Iraq might never have been so strong. He can't say he was "working for change from the inside", clearly he knew he had virtually no clout against Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest of the NeoCon Cabal, so the reponsibility is his alone. He had the reputation to put a stop to it, but chose not to excercise it. Another of history's would-a beens ... he would-a been great, but chose to sit by and watch his country make a huge error.
Our loss.
posted by Jo Fish on 10.02.06 at 06:13 AM
Comments:
Well, now that Powell has found Jesus, let's see how he makes ammends for his errors.
In a sense it's a bit tragic when a dispassionate observer views how Powell has been used and abused by the Bu$h family. He really was a tool, in bother meanings of the word.
However, those of us who remember his disgraceful role in the My Lai massacre investigation must surely take some sense of satisfaction at his being left on history's trash heap.
The turn of the wheel, the cosmic grindstone and all that.
Powell's cover up of My Lai stamped him as the worst kind of "good soldier" -- the one who did what his boss wanted, whether right or wrong.
After he came to the attention of Rumsfeld and Cheney when he was a White House Fellow, his career as a political general was set.
Little did he (or Condi) know that that group was all about tokenism. It's worse if he did know and went along for the status and perks.
In the end, his legacy is one of intellectual compromise and moral failure.
Don't know he could look a wounded Iraq War vet or the family of a dead Iraq War vet in the eye.
posted by: fbg46 on 10.02.06 at 12:42 PM [permalink]
Same crap as Dean Rusk. He knew damn well that we shouldn't get in a land war in Asia after being in the CBI in WWII. But it was his job to support the President. . .
posted by: raven316 on 10.02.06 at 03:06 PM [permalink]
It infuriates me to see a bright man who did not "unload" when it counted.
Powell, not Bush, ruined his legacy.
Once you sell your balls, you can't get them back. Good soldier, my ass. He has a lot of blood on his hands and I hope to hell he never sleeps another night in his life. Of course, maybe that is how he gets to sleep, he just rationalizes that he was following orders. So was Goebbels.
posted by: Dick (no, not that one) on 10.02.06 at 06:35 PM [permalink]
His job was really working for the AMERICAN PEOPLE and to ADVISE the president. He made a promise to us and didn't keep it. He had the position and knowledge and opportunity to stop the Bush decision for war (it was George W. Bush who ordered the war, and it is George W. Bush who has a legacy he wishes to protect, hence why there is no plans for a withdrawl anytime soon). Do you remember the scene in "Clear and Present Danger" where Admiral Greer tells John Ryan that he took an oath to the American people?... true here! Powell's had the opportunity for greatness but chose to salute sharply. Just following orders was no defense at Nuremberg.
