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The part I don't like is, I've read that Powell didn't want to play the role set out for him. I read of him throwing papers (with claims of WMDs) in the air and declaring angrily, "This is bull(puckey)!" In other words, the man was doing his job as a patriotic soldier of demanding legitimate and honest intelligence, and getting angry because he was being asked to put across spin, like a politician.
That is the kind of integrity I'd like to see in the armed services. Why did he cave? The impression I get is that he was subject to political pressures. I believe his initial reaction. I believe the professional soldiers over the neocons, and I trust the professional soldiers more than a lot of politicians.
And if conservative politicians are willing to lie and cheat to beat the Rats, on the basis of 'they lie and cheat too so we have to lie and cheat pre-emptively', I think they would be well advised to reconsider that approach. Where does that leave those of us who demand leaders who do not lie and do not cheat? What are we supposed to do, go dig up the corpse of Clinton's political reputation and run him again?

The trouble is that most freepers checked their healthy skepticism about politicians at the door once Dubya took office. Many treat Donald "General Blimp" Rumsfeld as almost a god, who despite his repeated use of the WMD scare tactic as his main argument, who can do no wrong.