Argh, just posted. Mods, merge as you will. Didn't know about the cancer, Lanz's title is prob more accurate.
Your thread title was misleading. He died from COVID-related complications, not COVID itself. Someone who is 84 years old and fighting cancer could die from an infected pimple.
Respected him greatly as an advisor, military leader, and Secretary of State. There was a time I'd hoped he'd run for President. I think he would've made a great one.
I'd have to whole heartedly agree that he would've been the man to restore policies that could revive America to it's Eisenhower era ascendancy.
Yes, I was quite hoping he'd make a run for President. Would have been a better choice than George W. Bush.
His story is one of the better American stories out there. If you haven’t read* his autobiography you should. *technically I listened to it on a cross country road trip
Maybe. Like a lot of high-level politicians, he had enough cash to see him well even if they'd killed his future career. I think on some level he bought into it - Hussein WAS a snake. And the US knew damn well what they'd sold him. But he was clearly a target of opportunity after 9/11 - someone for PNAC's wish list, not a genuine threat.
https://theintercept.com/2018/02/06...aq-fifteen-years-ago-and-what-he-told-the-un/ Don't know anything about the source and I'm certain the article is highly biased one way or another. But, it confirms he was the one who spoke to the UN.
And it came out that before he did, he said "I'm not gonna peddle this bullshit" and then they threatened him with something, because he did it. Where are the conspiracy theorists with that shit, huh? Strange that they don't give a fuck about what evil shit scared Colin Powell into compliance with a fake war he disagreed with. Why, it's almost like they're partisan zombies or something.
He was, and he later called it a blot on his record. Cheney and Rumsfeld never criticised their own actions in the light of what we now know (and knew then, except they hid that). https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/colin-powell-u-n-speech-was-a-great-intelligence-failure/
Pretty much all of what he said to the UN was based on the word of one intelligence asset - "Curveball". He was a flake. His German handlers knew he was and warned the US. But he was telling them what they wanted to hear. He later admitted to making shit up. He claims it was to bring Hussein down, but many see him as a mere opportunist. And his reports dropped off once he got the Green Card he was angling for. Go figure. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/feb/15/curveball-iraqi-fantasist-cia-saddam
Not exactly the highest of bars, there. I mean, W was better than Trump, even if he was human garbage. And therein lies the problem with politics. I can't find the story now, but it had a misleading headline that was something like, "Nice People Don't Have Ethics." The article shaped the study it was describing as one where "nice people" tend to be unethical folks and simply go with the way the wind blows, while ethical people adhere to positive values, and are thus unpopular. The problem is that they framed the results wrong. Because they made it sound like if you adhered to personal ethics, you were someone who believed in positive values. In reality, of course, one can have horrific personal ethics and adhere to them as well as anyone with positive ethics. Since politics is ultimately a popularity contest (in the US), someone who adheres deeply to their personal values (regardless of if they are widely popular or not) is less likely to succeed than if they just go with the flow. Powell has said that if he didn't go along with what the W administration wanted, then things would have been far worse. We'll never know if that's true or not, but it is kind of telling that the man was willing to ensure that he'd have a comfortable life regardless of the cost to men and women he'd sworn to protect (not to mention all the innocent Iraqis who were harmed by the war).
I agreed that Hussein needed to be brought down. But then .., my opinion and even voicing that opinion would not have led to a 15 year war. He definitely should not have mislead the public regarding Iraq and reasons for going to war.
I always wanted Colin Powell to run for President, too bad he didn't and too bad he tarnished his legacy with the lies that pushed us into Iraq. That shit's not forgivable, but I do believe he would have made for a good President.
It would have been interesting to see which won out - the thirst for power at all costs of the GOP, or the naked fucking racism of the GOP.
He remained a Republican for a long, long time. It wasn’t until after the events of January 6 that he truly distanced himself from the party. I think he had a bit of nostalgia, hoping that one day the Trump-induced coma would subside.
I just picture him having a great conversation right now with Saddam about where those WMDs were hidden. Come on, Saddam, you can tell him now.
The answer, I believe, would be "yes." If Larry Elder's brief time in the sun is any indication, the GQP would gladly tokenize a black candidate to deflect criticism. Likewise, I think the minute said candidate fucked up they'd throw them under the bus not unlike what happened when Milo Yappalotaboutnothing lost his marbles after going broke.
