It's all on you Colin. When you capitulated, when you joined

[harrison]

in the war plan, even though you knew that there was really nothing there, you guaranteed the deaths of thousands. You should have resigned in protest. You should have subverted the process. But the one thing you should NOT have done was to go to the United Nations and lie to the world.

Looking back, if you had resigned, you would have put Bush in a corner. You would have changed history. You might have sounded a death knell to the cabal. You could have cited health reasons, but everyone would have known.

But you didn't. You signed on like the good soldier. You had your orders and you followed your orders.

And now there is hell to pay.

It's all on you Colin. It's all on you.

[freetobegay]

1. Heros are far & few

Powell was never in the running.

[JPJones]

2. I agree

Colin needs to do the right thing.

Of course, maybe there is another reason for his loyalty:

"When the vice president and I are alone, it's Colin and Dick," he said.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/20/woodward.book/index.html

I hope there is an audio tape to confirm this.

[RafterMan]

3. I reluctantly agree, mostly

The problem with the "resign in protest" move is that you only get one shot and if you miss, it's over.

Was there any value in staying on? I don't know. But I do remember that shortly after the war Bush started threatening Syria and Iran, just like the PNAC blueprint says. Someone talked him out of it, and my feeling has always been that it was Powel or Blair (who gets the same criticism).

But at the very least, he lost other battles he had to win and I have lost a lot of respect for him.

[Ilsa]

4. These were some of my last thoughts before i fell asleep last night.

I wonder how much the course of history would have been changed if Powell had had the courage to resign and tell the public about the real agenda of the Liar in Chief and the rest of the PNAC'ers.

Meanwhile, as Powell was patting himself on the back for his loyalty to the Chimp, weren't Cheney, Wolfowicz, Libby, and columnist Adelman wining and dining at the the VP's residence, congratulating themselves for having managed to evict Powell out of the inner circle? They started talking about Powell, and chuckling about him in his absence.

From Woodward's book, the section about Cheney being unwavering in his desire to go to war:

Cheney and Wolfowitz remarked that Powell was someone who followed his poll ratings and bragged about his popularity. Several weeks earlier in a National Public Radio interview, Powell had said, "If you would consult any recent Gallup poll, the American people seem to be quite satisfied with the job I'm doing as secretary of state."

He sure likes to be popular, Cheney said.

Wolfowitz said that Powell did bring credibility and that his presentation to the United Nations on weapons of mass destruction intelligence had been important. As soon as Powell had understood what the president wanted, Wolfowitz said, he became a good, loyal member of the team.

Cheney shook his head, no. Powell was a problem. "Colin always had major reservations about what we were trying to do."

[KC21304]

5. I think the most despicable thing Powell has done

is now trying to put out the word, through Woodward, that the reason he didn't resist is because he is a " soldier". It would have let the troops down. The next time Woodward says this, someone should point out how outrageously assinine this statement is. I think the troops and their families could have taken it, if it would have meant saving their lives.

[IronLionZion]

6. I agree, and I used to like Colin

but not anymore. I have no respect for that guy now.

I was horrified when Bush did his little coup in 2000 because he stocked his cabinet with neo-con lunatics. But I thought with Colin we may have at least one good guy in the White House. What a disappointment. He talked about resigning but says that "my president needs me". Bullshit. Granted, I'm grateful for his military service, and we knew he was against the Iraq invasion. But where was he when his country needed him to stand up to the neo-cons? He either got payed off or just pussied out.

[mountainvue]

7. He was the brave soldier

last night on Nightline. I think he fooled many people into believing he actually had a conscience once. Of course, there's little doubt about it now.