Powell: U.S. made 'serious mistakes' in Iraq

AP ^ | April 9 2006 | MONIFA THOMAS

[jmc1969]

Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Saturday said the United States has made "serious mistakes" during the Iraq war that have led to the rising violence the country now faces.

"We made some serious mistakes in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Baghdad," Powell told a crowd of thousands at the McCormick Place conference. "We didn't have enough troops on the ground. We didn't impose our will. And as a result, an insurgency got started, and . . . it got out of control."

Now, American troops must "stick with the people of Iraq" until order is restored, he said.

Powell, a retired four-star general, served as secretary of state under Bush from 2001 until 2005.

His remarks came a day after suicide bombers hit a Shiite mosque in Baghdad, killing more than 80.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Notice how Powell doesn't mention HIS FAILURE to get the French on board at the UN.

Iraq was ALWAYS a UN issue, yet Powell disgraced himself with the failure to get the UN to live up to its own Resolutions.

Powell should have applied the screws to the French, his unforgivable failure needs to be more widely known and reported on.

[Berlin_Freeper]

"when you were allowed to march right into Baghdad "

Powell was the head of the State Department, not the Pentagon which is Rumsfeld.

Powell's failure was to get the UN (namely the French) to live up to its Resolutions.

All reports show that Saddam was surprised Baghdad fell so fast and he had to make a wild dash for his life. His sons were trapped in hiding and he was cornered in a spider hole.

Obviously you are 100% wrong that the fall of Baghdad was Saddam's plan. Todays problem in Iraq is sectarian and Terrorist.

Saddam being humiliated on trial was not his plan.

[balch3]

even better, return him and all the other naysaying generals to active duty, and then court marshal them for insubordination.

[Naptowne]

Actually Colin Powell was still Secretary of State when Bush was reelected, and saying "we" made mistakes seems to suggest he is including himself among those who made mistakes. He didn't say "they" made mistakes. If these are the "facts" you are pointing out, then it may help you to learn what a is and isn't a fact. And saying Powell was a failure is not a fact; it is an opinion.

[dfwgator]

We made serious mistakes in WWII, what's your point Colin?

[Naptowne]

"Powell's failure was to get the UN (namely the French) to live up to its Resolutions."

So now Powell is responsible for what France does? I suppose it was his fault that Russia and China were not on board also. Perhaps you should do a little more research on the topic so you can learn that France had an enormous econimic interest in keeping Hussein in power. When Hussein fell, billions of dollars in agreements and contracts between France and Iraq went up in smoke. France would not have supported the invasion of Iraq if Jerry Lewis was our Secretary of State.

[ZULU]

Appointing this Turkey to the Cabinet was one of Bush's first mistakes.

[Berlin_Freeper]

"So now Powell is responsible for what France does?"

Actually yes. Powell never applied the screws to France therefore he failed.

It was entirely possible that France could have been turned with the correct pressure. That is why France never admitted till the very end that they would use their veto, they were seeing if they could get away with it and the jellyfish Powell simply did nothing about it.

Now instead of Iraq being a UN problem, our guys have to shoulder Powell's error, while he takes money from the Left. In light of that, for him to shoot his mouth off like this now proves he is an extreme jerk.

[TigersEye]

I've never been a big Powell fan but he's right. The butt-whooping should have just begun when Baghdad fell.

[Berlin_Freeper]

"Actually Colin Powell was still Secretary of State when Bush was reelected"

Powell announced he was leaving before the election. Try to remain relevant.

[jpsb]

Bremmer was a very bad choice.

[Rockitz]

Colin Powell only cares about himself and his image in the press.

He wants to appear so wise.

Another Jimmuh Carter in the making.

[pollyannaish]

Powell would do well to keep his mouth shut even if he is correct. It makes him seem petty and weak.

One does not always agree with the tactics of ones boss. But you do have to keep your mouth shut and not give fodder to the "enemies."

[Berlin_Freeper]

"I lurk on this site and have seen no reason to post in the past"

Actually what you are is a Powell butt-sucker Troll that just signed up on FR. One that never makes sense nor cares to make any sense, just so long as you keep getting reply after reply.

See my about me page idiot. That means YOU.

[jpsb]

"military strategists at the Pentagon and in the Administration did not adequately prepare"

No quite true, the were a few that saw the error before it happened (too few troops) and said as much, they were fired, so these days no active military of any rank will speak out.

[Little Ray]

Yup. We didn't kill off their Army, arrest and shoot the Ba'athist leadership and crush the Sunnis utterly.
But in this day and age we couldn't do that...

[attiladhun2]

It was the boomer babies who decided that nothing was worth sweat, pain and blood. If it can't be done quickly with as little pain as possible, the boomer babies will tell you that it isn't worth doing.
I disagree with your assessment. The real hardcore lefties during the 1960s were mostly from the WWII generation. Academia and Hollyweird was full of them. Plus, the Johnson administration was full of idiots (beginning with LBJ himself) like McNamara. They had the opportunity to face down the Left back then and they refused to do it.

[attiladhun2]

The fact is Iraq is a COUNTRY more than just the city of Baghdad. How would we like to be defined as a country just by the crime in New york or Los Angeles?
If you were a foreigner and spent one night in SC LA, Harlem, Richmond, VA or parts of Detroit, you'd conclude the U.S. was in the midst of an insurgency.

[airborne]

We didn't need more troops on the ground to impose our will.

We had more than enough of a military superiority.

We just feared to use it.

[attiladhun2]

The most eye opening experience in Iraq for me was not the horror of war. It was no disappointment in my fellow soldier. It was not even a US public that fully stood behind us. No, it was a media that in search of a story was looking for failure and conflict even if it meant literally staging a picture, taking things out of context etc. The media in our nation is out of control. It’s no longer news which we have. It’s editorial packaged as news. It’s complete garbage which lacks often even factual correctness when you’re talking about places like Iraq where they don’t really have access or free movement.
I noticed this about 15 years ago during l'affair Rodney King. The local news media edited out parts of the video tape to make the cops look really bad. Then they played this bastardized clip over and over and over again, until they got the result they wanted, a full-blown insurrection in LA.
You notice today this low-life bunch piously declare that they won't show the 9-ll footage because they don't want to "inflame" the public. That sure did not stop them from showing the RK footage at least a dozen times a day. After the riots, they quit showing the footage entirely, they got their riot and a whole other news cycle. I realized then the MSM were nothing but filthy, manipulating whores, and their "come on" would no longer work for me.