Actually it was yesterday. Tim Russert had him on Face the Nation, and the cable news shows are abuzz with how he might support a Democrat in the presidential election. Also, he didn't blame the CIA for bad pre war intel, he blamed the administration for bungling the disemination of it. And other pithy moments. Still ever the soldier, he said he never considered resigning.
Did read Powell's remarks from that show. No one should have been surprised there. He's always been somewhat agnostic where party affiliating was concerned. Doing the job required to faithfully serve the chain of command he adheres to is what's right.
He's far enough removed from any administration job at this point he'll get to play the elder statesmen's roll this time if he's interested. Dispensing advice to candidates from both parties and staying above the fray. Unlike Jimmy Carter, however, he could pull it off without being sanctimonious, preachy, or just bizarre.
Company analysis from the inter-war period in Iraq has always been a tough nut to crack. Powell and nearly everyone who wasn't in the Senate or House threating hearings at some time past have always seemed to accept that. They did screw up. As did nearly everyone else. But it's less so for what they saw then the lack of inferences that were drawn from what they saw.
They did see activity that strongly suggested work to support various proscribed weapons programs. Including WMD efforts. They saw them because Iraq wanted them seen. Quite frankly I still believe Iraq thought they were safe on that score because they thought we were better and had them penetrated more heavily than was actually the case.
Iraq thought we would know their activities were a Potemkin Village designed to make others (the less than friendly neighboring Gulf States) think it was still a capable power. Iraq wanted it's neighbors to believe it was still a threat and capable of defending itself against them catastrophically if necessary. The downside to that was that US, British and other intelligence saw those same activities. And took them at face value.
Deception, political or military maskirovka, is usually done to keep outsiders from knowing what you're trying to keep hidden. This time it was the reverse. But we didn't, or didn't allow ourselves to, see through it. And it bit them and us in the butt.
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Topic: Sopranos ... the end? (Read 2419 times)