‘It wouldn’t have worked’: Colin Powell balked at telling George W. Bush not to invade Iraq

[rangerrebew]

 

‘It wouldn’t have worked’: Colin Powell balked at telling George W. Bush not to invade Iraq
by Joel Gehrke
 | January 14, 2020 03:27 PM
 

When President George W. Bush asked Colin Powell if the United States should invade Iraq in 2003 and overthrow dictator Saddam Hussein, the secretary of state and former general refused to give a straight answer.

“I didn’t say to him, ‘I oppose this war,’” Powell says in a book published today about U.S. foreign policy after the Cold War. “Because it wouldn’t have worked.”

That admission sheds light on Bush’s decision to launch the war that defined his presidency. Powell acknowledged his muted opposition in James Mann’s new book, The Great Rift, an account of how Powell’s rivalry with Vice President Dick Cheney “defined an era.”

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/it-wouldnt-have-worked-colin-powell-balked-at-telling-george-w-bush-not-to-invade-iraq
 

[skeeter]

The Iraq war was as much a personal thing for the Bush family as anything, but Powell is a worm for trying to duck any responsibility in this manner.

[dfwgator]

The Iraq war was as much a personal thing for the Bush family as anything, but Powell is a worm for trying to duck any responsibility in this manner.

"The N_____ tried to kill my father....I don't play that s___!"  - Black Bush

[Maj. Bill Martin]

As far as I'm concerned, trying to murder a President is alone sufficient grounds to invade and conquer another nation.  So I don't care if part of the motivation was revenge for trying to kill his dad - it was justified.

[DB]

As far as I'm concerned, trying to murder a President is alone sufficient grounds to invade and conquer another nation.  So I don't care if part of the motivation was revenge for trying to kill his dad - it was justified.

The failure to comply with the terms of the first cease fire was a major justification all by itself.

The primary error was nation building. That was a fools errand. That's where all the lives were lost and the massive costs came from all to little avail.