Powell Says He Advised Bush to Invade Iraq With a Larger Force

[sabra]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aGyvxwD2B.FM&refer=top_world_news

Powell Says He Advised Bush to Invade Iraq With a Larger Force

April 30 (Bloomberg) -- Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said he urged President George W. Bush to deploy a greater numbers of troops for the 2003 invasion of Iraq than advocated by the Pentagon.

``I made the case to General (Tommy) Franks and Secretary (Donald) Rumsfeld before the President that I wasn't sure we had enough troops,'' Powell said in an interview with Britain's ITV television network broadcast today. ``The President's military advisers felt that the size of the force was adequate. They may still feel that years later. Some of us don't. I don't.''

Powell said that generals and other Department of Defense advisers were ``anticipating a different kind of aftermath'' to the Iraq war.

...

Condoleezza Rice, Powell's successor as secretary of state, today defended the decision on Iraq troops levels, saying on ABC's ``This Week'' program in Washington that they were determined by the military commanders most closely involved in the planning.

[bullimiami]

1. what he should have told him was NOT to do it.

He should have said weve lied to congress and lied to the UN and lied to the american people.
We cant invade a country based on lies.

But powell is a lying sack of shit just like his boss.

[speedoo]

2. Why is this traitor still yapping?

If he's trying to salvage his reputation, he's way too late. Should have spoken up before the 2004 election, when his words might have actually made a difference and saved some lives.

Now, he just looks like a rat fleeing the sinking ship and trying to regain his reputation. Not gonna happen.

[KeepItReal]

3. Who's gonna listen to Secretary of State when it comes to military issues?

No matter what his background was...SecDef is Rummy's job.

I can imagine Rummy & Cheney clowning Powell and telling him to play his own position.

[tatertop]

4. Bastard should have fought invading in the first place

he needs to go to hell

[leesa]

5. This man is disgusting. The noose getting too tight, Colin?

[jwirr]

6. Powell just does not get it! Why did he advice going into Iraq

based on lies that he did not believe. I would only be able to respect him if he had demanded they pay attention to the intel and when they did not he had resigned. Anything short of that makes him an accomplice.

[BlueManDude]

7. I know - screw Powell. More troops = more dead troops.

[BikeWriter]

8. Too little, too late, you lying bastard!

[wellst0nev0ter]

16. Indeed

You supported a foreign policy of Double or Nothing, and now we are all paying for it.

Go to hell.

[ConcernedCanuk]

9. I guess Canada is safe from the PNACers for now then

.
.
.

Seeing as the "superpower" languished Iraq with missiles and bombs from afar in the amount of hundreds of tons weeks before they dared go to ground

and still LOSING to Iraqi ground forces 3 years later

DESPITE their airborne "superiority" with them killer warthogs and so on . .

I am taking some sort of uncertain comfort in that

We have 30% more population than Iraq

and our country is at least ten times bigger than Iraq

we haven't been under sanctions for over a decade like Iraq was, and still have an airborne defense system

also

we have direct lines that feed the USA with hydro, oil and natural gas

But then again

We got our new "Bush-Lite" PM Harper

Hopefully he won't last

He better not

Or we will indeed be in deep doo-doo

(sigh)

[goforit]

10. Didn't yah just say that Bush had false intelligence all along, yet

you advised to go in with a bigger force knowing full
well this was a phoney war to begin with!!!

Colin?....Go to hell!

[Evergreen Emerald]

11. The retired generals are showing that they are true patriots

Powell should stand with them--something he did not do when in office, either due to a lack of courage, or to gain political power on the backs of the soldiers.


I am sick of his mealy-mouth luke warm attempts at distancing himself from this disastrous mess he helped to create. Stand up Powell.

[daleo]

12. Powell's lies at the U.N. will never be forgotten

Or forgiven.

[cliss]

13. Too late,

too late Colon Bowel. Even though you have a big bank account and a beautiful house and lovely surroundings,

you still have to fall asleep each night. Don't you Colon?

[Canuckistanian]

14. Sure, you did, Colin

Right after you vigorously complained about the evidence used to justify the invasion, right?

We all know the story, Colin. Larry Wilkerson told us.

You could have done something. Resigned, gone to the press, written a book, anything.

You did nothing while thousands died.

[salin]

15. Gee Colin, that will help your long-term reputation in history...

given that it is documented that you *knew* that the intel being used to sell the war to the American public and the world was trumped up and false; and given your very public and on the record performance to the UN - sure the fact that you advised a larger troop presence for an ill-advised war, that you knew wasn't warrented and was being sold on false pretences, will somehow soften your image in history. NOT.

You sold your credibility down the river.

You were probably one of the few figures that could have stopped the insanity. Had you given a high profile resignation on the eve of the presentation to the UN - the turmoil and press questioning could have slowed things or halted them due to 'credibility' issues in the face of such an embarassing (to the president, not to the US) timing of such a resignation and the questions it would have led to. But you had more loyalty to the president, than to our country or its citizens. Live with the devastation wrought by your complicity. Even in this statement of supposed dissent, your naked complicitness .shines through. It is hard to believe that historians will be kind. But good luck with the attempt at reputation rehabilitation.

[One Honest Guy]

17. Larger force wouldn't have made any difference.

American casualties would be perhaps lower, and insurgency would have taken an extra year to get into gear. Aside from that, it would be exactly the same as it is today. I mean, what? How do you make an oppressive occupation more successful? I mean, in the end, would a larger force find the WMDs or something?

I think many Dems are seriously deluded when it comes to this particular issue.