For one thing, it makes it very hard to consider Colin Powell an honorable man.
Dec., 2001 State Department's INR gives Powell a report saying (in words of Greg Thielmann), "there is no persuasive evidence that the Iraqi nuclear program is being reconstituted."
[snip]
Jan. 30, 2002 "[T]he CIA published an unclassified report to Congress that stated, 'Baghdad may be attempting to acquire materials that could aid in reconstituting its nuclear-weapons program.' A week later, Colin Powell told the House International Relations Committee, 'With respect to the nuclear program, there is no doubt that the Iraqis are pursuing it.'
Oh my, he changed "no persuasive evidence" to "no doubt". That is almost perjury.
... Feith based Intelligence ...
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... makes it very hard to consider Colin Powell an honorable man.
You say that like there has been any reason to so consider for the past half-decade. I'm hard-pressed to think of anyone whose star has fallen farther than Powell's, at least in my mind. Back in 1992, when there was some talk that he might replace Quayle as Bush I's VP, I considered voting for that ticket, since I did not particularly like Bill Clinton then.
I could forgive Powell a little bit, under the "loyal soldier" argument, for not speaking up when the selling job of the Iraq invasion first started. But when he gave that presentation to the UN, and it became clear he didn't believe what he himself was saying, I found that inexcusable.
When he compounded the problem by not resigning in a big and noisy fashion before the 2004 election, I saw that as blowing his last chance at a little redemption. To my mind, his soldier-loyalty should have been to the country, probably earlier, but certainly by then.
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