Powell tried to talk Bush out of war

And he spent a whole 2.5 hours doing so! :eyes:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article2042072.ece

Powell tried to talk Bush out of war
Sarah Baxter, Washington

THE former American secretary of state Colin Powell has revealed that he spent 2½ hours vainly trying to persuade President George W Bush not to invade Iraq and believes today’s conflict cannot be resolved by US forces.

“I tried to avoid this war,” Powell said at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado. “I took him through the consequences of going into an Arab country and becoming the occupiers.”

Powell has become increasingly outspoken about the level of violence in Iraq, which he believes is in a state of civil war. “The civil war will ultimately be resolved by a test of arms,” he said. “It’s not going to be pretty to watch, but I don’t know any way to avoid it. It is happening now.”

He added: “It is not a civil war that can be put down or solved by the armed forces of the United States.” All the military could do, Powell suggested, was put “a heavier lid on this pot of boiling sectarian stew”.

The signs are that the views of Powell and other critics of the war are finally being heard in the Pentagon, if not yet in the White House. Robert Gates, the defence secretary, is drawing up plans to reduce troop levels in Iraq in anticipation that General David Petraeus, the commander in Iraq, will not be able to deliver an upbeat progress report in September on the American troop surge.

more...

Powell trying to recapture a modicum of credibility?

It will never happen..

He turned out to be a lying coward.

Where's that picture of Colin holding up a tiny test tube supposedly filled with all those nasty chemicals that he SWORE were being manufactured by Saddam by the hundreds of tons?

He pimped for this war. He sold out. He's worthless and beyond redemption.

sometimes you would think these guys think no one ever takes pictures, or transcribes speeches or videos them

...he played along to get along and now he must bear the responsibility of BushCo's immoral war. People are judged by their actions, not by their intentions. Sorry Colin, you fucked with America's mind and you cost America more than you will ever be able to comprehend.

he thought "Going Public" was an option.

Agreed, too bad, I wish he had. But I can understand why he hoped to work behind the scenes.

At any rate it is too bad that Bush listened to anybody but Colin Powell

...and lying to the world about WMDs which Powell knew would lead to a war in Iraq. So Powell is culpable for everything about this war including the events which followed his ultimate decision not to continue serving under Bush. If Powell knows anything that the American people and congress needs to know about Bush or Cheney or anyone else in this corrupt administration, I hope his conscience will allow him to break his silence and he needs to come forward with the truth.

I never thought he was a perfect man, but I thought he had integrity before the Iraq bs began. His speech at the 2000 GOP convention made him sound far more intelligent and wise than his actions a year later. Needless to say, the man had me fooled for a little while.

They lied to him like they lied to everybody else -- that they were going to give diplomacy a chance, that they were going to invade as a last resort etc,

in October 2001. http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB198/index.htm

NOT! He is still protecting this white house and their blood soaked policies. STILL To this day he has not told the AMERICAN PEOPLE the truth. He allowed himself to be USED to sell this catastrophe, he was an instrument in a war crime, and crime against the American people. No pass from me either

lololololol

I believe he's actually a decent guy, who let his sense of duty override his ethics. And thus, he'll forever be a craven little shit in my mind.

chimpy only has about a three minute attention span.

I was very disappointed in him, but I won't trash him--he's going to have enough of a punishment for living with the knowledge that he enabled crime and disaster. I hope he can find a way to redeem himself.

... is another of the Bush/Cheney co-presidency's accomplishments.

Powell must feel really terrible. He's been wrecked. His reputation is a phantom limb.

CMA at this time rings awfully hollow.

What a liar.

was it the ghosts of the my lai massacure that made you stand up and lie to the UN, we knew you were lying and I suspect you knew also that what you were saying was a lie too. your stars were earned in large part in less than honorable ways. screw you powell. that is all

PRESIDENT Colin Powell. Scary...

Reading "Armed Madhouse" right now, and Palast lays out compelling evidence about the two different factions for plans for Iraq formulated after the 2000 election. (And before 9/11.)

The neo-con faction won out; they wanted not only the oil, but to transform Iraq into a PNAC free-trade flat-tax paradise. Democracy and elections were secondary. Powell thought a long term occupation would be a disaster. And that has turned out to be true. Along with the complete failure of the foreign corporate privatization the of public infrastructure and banking, no tariffs, tax breaks for the wealthy, etc.

Occupiers!?!?


I challenge you to a duel!