Powell speaks out against Bush admin's handling of Iraq

[Arlos]

from: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0, ... 71,00.html

Americas



September 10, 2005

Powell regrets ‘mess’ of Iraq
From Tim Reid in Washington



COLIN POWELL, the former US Secretary of State, harshly criticised the Bush Administration yesterday for its failures in Iraq, calling the country a mess and voicing concerns that it may slide into civil war.



General Powell, who left the Administration in January, also said that his speech in February 2003 to the UN, making the case for war, was a painful blot on his record.

Making his most damning remarks about the conduct of the war since he was replaced by Condoleezza Rice, General Powell criticised the White House and Pentagon for their post-war planning and failure to send sufficient troops.

Asked in an interview broadcast on ABC whether he regretted his support for the war, he replied: “Who knew what the whole mess was going to be like?” He added: “What we didn’t do in the immediate aftermath of the war was to impose our will on the whole country, with enough troops of our own, with enough troops from coalition forces, or by recreating the Iraqi forces, armed forces, more quickly than we are doing now.

“And it may not have turned out to be such a mess if we had done some things differently.”

Turning to his pre-war address to the UN Security Council, when he forcefully made the case for invasion and offered proof that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, General Powell said that he felt terrible about the claims he made. Asked whether the speech would tarnish his reputation, he replied: “Of course it will. It’s a blot. I’m the one who presented it on behalf of the United States to the world, and (it) will always be part of my record. It was painful. It’s painful now.”

General Powell, 68, did not blame George Tenet, the CIA’s Director at the time, for the misleading information, which included satellite photographs of trucks that he asserted were mobile biological weapons laboratories. Instead, he blamed lower-level intelligence analysts for not speaking out during the five days he pored over reports at the CIA as he prepared the speech.

He said: “George Tenet . . . believed what he was giving to me was accurate.” He added: “There were some good people in the intelligence community who knew at the time that some of these sources were not good and shouldn’t be relied upon, and they didn’t speak up. That devastated me.”

General Powell said that he had “never seen evidence to suggest” a connection between the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the regime of Saddam Hussein, unlike Dick Cheney, the Vice-President, who has made such a claim.

He said that there was little option now but to continue investing in the Iraqi Armed Forces. Despite his hesitation about the war — “I’m always a reluctant warrior” — he said that he was glad that Saddam and his regime had been removed.

Voicing concerns about the possibility of civil war, he said: “A way has to be found for the Sunnis to be brought into the political process. You cannot let . . . Iraq devolve into a mini-state in the north, a larger mini-state in the south and sort of nothing in the middle.”

-Arlos

[Lyion]

Thats not a harsh criticism of W, but the continuing fued between Rummy and him, Of course the media is going to spin it, but it's interesting what Powell is really saying, and what the reporters are trying to make his point out to be, and what those who don't understand the current administration see here.

It's really a shame that Rumsfeld won the Powell/Rumsfeld tug of war.

He added: “What we didn’t do in the immediate aftermath of the war was to impose our will on the whole country, with enough troops of our own, with enough troops from coalition forces, or by recreating the Iraqi forces, armed forces, more quickly than we are doing now.

Everyone recognized that disassembling the Iraqi military was the biggest mistake of the war. Hindsight is 20/20.

He proposes firmer martial law and us imposing our will. Spoken truly like a military man, and not a politician. I'm not sure it's valid plan though.

[Phlegm]

Powell also weighs in on Katrina. From Reuters:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Colin Powell, the former secretary of state seen as a potential leader for Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, has joined the chorus of Americans criticising the disaster response at all levels of government.

"There have been a lot of failures at a lot of levels -- local, state and federal," Powell said in an ABC interview for the "20/20" program to be broadcast on Friday evening.

Political figures from both major parties have assailed the slow response to the hurricane's assault last week on the Gulf Coast, which devastated New Orleans and killed hundreds, possibly thousands, in the region.

"There was more than enough warning over time about the dangers to New Orleans. Not enough was done. I don't think advantage was taken of the time that was available to us, and I just don't know why," Powell said in excerpts on ABC's Web site.

He said he did not think that race was a factor in the slow response, but that many of those unable to leave New Orleans in time were trapped by poverty which disproportionately affects blacks.

Powell was the highest-ranking black official during President George W. Bush's first term and chairman of the military Joint Chiefs of Staff during the 1991 Gulf War. He is among various names mentioned in Washington as a potential "hurricane czar" to take over the long-term recovery effort.

Two Republican senators on Thursday proposed that such a job be created. White House officials have not ruled out the option, saying it is among several being discussed.

Some black leaders, including Democrats in Congress, have charged that racism contributed to the misery of New Orleans' predominantly black storm victims.

"I don't think it's racism, I think it's economic," Powell said. "But poverty disproportionately affects African-Americans in this country. And it happened because they were poor."