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“The Powell Doctrine clearly states the criteria that must be met before the US intervenes And the main criteria is an exit strategy.”

Not really, if you are talking about Gulf War I. There was no “Powell Doctrine.” I think you meant Weinberger Principles.

Basically, Colin Powell, Storming Norman personally learned from Vietnam Experience and they didn’t go for this “gradualism” thing like in Vietnam. They also didn’t do the “Shut-up in Color” routine that LBJ insisted on with his generals. They offered the president their best advice.
Most important of all: Bush/Cheney let the military do its thing. . .in accordance with the “Weinberger Principles”

These principles state:
-Use Troops When Political Efforts Fail
-Go to War When you Intend to WIN
-Go to War When it is Vital to US National Interests
-You Win When you have Well-Defined Political-Military Goals and “End-State”
-You Win When You Reassess Size, Composition and Mission
-You Win When You Have the Support of the American People

As you can see, an “exit strategy” was never part of the principles and rightly so, as a “strategy” is not a principle of war.

Now, if you are talking about Gulf War II, then we enter a whole different arena. . .

"Most important of all: Bush/Cheney let the military do its thing. . .in accordance with the “Weinberger Principles”

Lol, too funny

He [General Shinseki] was the target of immediate rebuke from the Pentagon leadership, in particular from Donald H. Rumsfeld, then secretary of defense, and his deputy, Paul D. Wolfowitz. Mr. Wolfowitz dismissed the testimony as “wildly off the mark.”

Some civilians in government and military officers say General Shinseki’s treatment intimidated other top officers.

“It sent a very clear signal to the military leadership about how that kind of military judgment was going to be valued,” said Kori Schake, the director for defense strategy on the National Security Council staff from 2002 to 2005, now a fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor at West Point. “So it served to silence critics just at the point in time when, internal to the process, you most wanted critical judgment.”

FYI General Shinseki was proven correct in his judgement that too few troops were in Iraq to secure the county. The Neocons were AGAIN proven wrong.

There is a difference between the powell doctrine and weinberger's principles or doctrine. Powell acknowledges that he used Weinberger in part. You'll never know how much influence Powell may have had over his boss, Weinburger's list.

We know that the term "pottery barn effect" wasn't coined by Powell but he endorsed it and welcomed its inclusion.

BTW, I already know the neocon talking points.

As for your statement that "Bush/Cheney let the military do its thing", that is a crock of crap. The US military didn't want to invade Iraq with an underwhelming force. They were force to because the NeoCons were worried about public opinion.