Ok-this is my first diary so cut me a little slack. I'm going to delve into a subject that is above my pay grade but that is really burning me up this week.
My premise is that the venerable Colin Powell, a man who has an incredible amount of respect across party lines and in the world at large, has gotten a free ride. We may need to take a closer look.
Colin Powell's name has been repeatedly floated as a running mate for both Senators Obama and McCain. General Powell's name has historically been floated as a candidate for the presidency itself. I'm one of the people who gave General Powell a pass on his presentation to the United Nations regarding Saddam Hussein's WMD programs...
My colleagues, every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence. I will cite some examples, and these are from human sources....
The gravity of this moment is matched by the gravity of the threat that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction pose to the world. Let me now turn to those deadly weapons programs and describe why they are real and present dangers to the region and to the world....
We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction; he's determined to make more. Given Saddam Hussein's history of aggression, given what we know of his grandiose plans, given what we know of his terrorist associations and given his determination to exact revenge on those who oppose him, should we take the risk that he will not some day use these weapons at a time and the place and in the manner of his choosing at a time when the world is in a much weaker position to respond?
excerpted from Colin Powell's speech to the United Nations Security Council on Feb.6, 2003
The media, the public and myself were quick to write off General Powell's presentation as being an unwitting pawn in the Bush administration's rush to war. Quite silly considering how intelligent we know General Powell to be, especially with regards to military subjects.
Recent reporting seems to imply that General Powell was present and had a decision making capacity as a member of the National Security Council's Principals Committee. ABC news (I know, I know) reports in an article entitled- "Top Bush Advisors Approved 'Enhanced Interogation'" 4/9/08 that...
Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects -- whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding.
The high-level discussions about these "enhanced interrogation techniques" were so detailed, these sources said, some of the interrogation sessions were almost choreographed -- down to the number of times CIA agents could use a specific tactic.
The advisers were members of the National Security Council's Principals Committee, a select group of senior officials who met frequently to advise President Bush on issues of national security policy.
At the time, the Principals Committee included Vice President Cheney, former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft.
see..... http://www.abcnews.go.com/...
I know this doesn't mean General Powell was present or supported/dissented the torture in these meetings. It does place him in the center of the storm with regards to the US military's use of torture in the execution of its supposed 'War on Terror'.This accusation and Powell's speech at the UN, to me, indict him as a not-unwiling participant in two of the greatest crimes the Bush Administration has bequeathed upon this country and the whole global community for that matter.
With the torture revelations rearing their ugly heads this week I have to wonder if I was right in giving General Powell the benefit of the doubt in the past. It's high time we hold every last person accountable for the crimes of this administration.
So what do you say.....