Colin Powell, the leader who might have been

[question everything]

JAMES O. GOLDSBOROUGH THE UNION-TRIBUNE

April 22, 2004

Three former four-star generals have gone on to become secretary of state. Of the three, one is legendary, one was a flop and so ran for president, and the third is Colin Powell.

(snip)

Trying to have things both ways, Powell fails twice, appearing both irrelevant and disloyal. If he was the reluctant warrior, then he was used by the so-called Gestapo. If he was as gung-ho as the others, how can Woodward describe him as semi-despondent "because he knew that this was a war that might have been avoided?"

(snip)

Dwight Eisenhower and George Marshall proved that ex-soldiers could become statesmen. In France, Charles de Gaulle proved the same thing. The military habit of saluting and following orders is not a DNA imprint. A retired officer is not neutered. He can become a civilian leader, even a great leader.

(snip)

Powell's career resembles more that of another four-star general who became secretary of state, Alexander Haig. Both men owed their stars to politicians, who jumped them up the chain of command because of political service. Haig was a protégé of Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon. Powell rose to prominence under Caspar Weinberger, describing himself during the Iran-Contra affair as Weinberger's "faithful Indian companion."

(snip)

He brought a military man's prudence – the so-called Powell Doctrine – into an administration full of civilian war hawks. Pragmatic, appealing, eloquent, he gave Bush badly needed credibility. He might have used that to influence events rather than becoming window-dressing.

(snip)

James Goldsborough can be reached by e-mail at [e-mail].

Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040422/news_lz1e22goldsbh.html

[Disturbed]

1. A follower not a leader.

Powell was always a lackey of the Right Wing. His PR Machine was efective for many years as projecting him as a man of integrity. He never possesed that quality. He was always the House Servant.

[necso]

2. Got that right.

But the comparison of Haig and Powell is also spot on. Both were "political" officers and boot lickers. Powell has just had a lot better PR.