Posted on 07/08/2007 3:55:43 PM PDT by Enchante
FORMER US secretary of state Colin Powell has revealed that he spent 2 1/2 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," Mr 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."
Mr 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. It's not going to be pretty to watch, but I don't know any way to avoid it. It is happening now," he said.
He added: "It is not a civil war that can be put down or solved by the armed forces of the United States."
The signs are that the views of Mr Powell and other critics of the war are finally being heard in the Pentagon, if not yet in the White House.
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.news.com.au ...
I have to wonder whether he really took a stand, or merely raised the well-known concerns about the aftermath.....we've previously heard his supposed "if you break it, you've bought it" comment, which is far far short of taking a strong stand against the invasion prior to March 2003. Did he really argue forcefully against going in at all, or is this merely another kind of revisionist history from the man who allowed "Plamegate" to explode far beyond all reason?? Did Powell allow Plamegate to go forward out of a vindictive streak against the WH?
powell augured well.
He should have resigned his position then if he felt that strongly about it.
what else do you expect from a coward?
Has he endorced Obama yet?
**************
Mr. Powell, you disgrace yourself.
We had been occupying Iraq by air enforcing the No-Fly-Zone for 12 f'in years!
What did nitwit Powell want us to do--enforce the No-Fly-Zones in perpetuity?!
good one
Perhaps he didn't elect it, after all. Perhaps as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he proved he was first a good polititian. Then he proved he could explain to the American public the policy handed to him by the policy makers. He could do it in a way to make them see it. Maybe he isn't really a visionary himself.
Maybe Bush isn't either. Bush, at least, sees that the Islamists want us all dead.
Mr. Powell, why don't you and Richard Armitage repair to a local lounge and toast each other for the paragons of virtue you think yourselves to be.
Powell is still p.o.’d because he got fired.
What Powell believes and what the reality is are two completely different things.
Does he?.or does he constantly refer to it as a religion of peace?
Iraq is broke and the only way to fix it is to kick the hell out of it, act like occupiers and then rebuild it.
The why fight a PC war and still claim they are a religion of peace?
‘twasn’t all that long ago that many here on FR were calling for a Powell/Rice ticket in ‘08.
Powell’s opinion is late and irrelavant.
His statement is no different than the Libs saying Bush lied; therefore, we must cut and run.
“We had been occupying Iraq by air enforcing the No-Fly-Zone for 12 f’in years!”
Good point! We were not at peace before, and we will not be at peace again, until we have victory.
Nonsense.
We CAN put it down, but we won't.
Radioactive parking lots seldom fight civil wars.
There is NO way President Bush could say “Islam is evil” and expect cooperation from Muslim allies, like the Iraqis working alongside our troops.
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