Gen Powell who has always claimed he was a GOP man never has been. At least he admits that his rise to 4 stars was based upon Affirmative Action programs otherwise he would never have made it. He was a GREAT staff officer, he dotted i's and crossed t's with the very best and ever briefing you were always asked the same question(s): Did you staff this with ________ and __________? The chances that you had staffed it with ever one he thought needed to see it were slim to none. The result is anything you could accomplish in 3- days became 60 days, 6 mo became a year. If you walked into his office and needed a decision you had a problem as once again the 'did you staff with' question rose its ugly head.
You ask, WHY did he do this. Its called 'move the monkey'. When you office gets an action you have the monkey on your back, the key is to move it and Powell would staff out. So the monkey is now at Ft BumChuck and we are awaiting their response. That is how he operated.
This is John Bolton and Leland Vittert from Fox News, that is my wife behind them. We spent 2 weeks in Israel with him. He is a stand up guy!
@17 OaksLet's not forget that Powell was GREAT at carrying Kissinger's luggage and being his tame Knee-Grow so Henry could "prove" he isn't prejudiced. Hell,he even spoke good English!
Powell is the ONLY infantry branch officer I ever heard of that spent even a partial tour,never mind a whole tour as an advisor to a SVN Army Ranger unit,and managed to never ONCE get in a fire fight to earn a CIB,and who left VN with ZERO SVN commendations in his record. Not even a "thanks for not burning our country down" ribbon. Zero. Nada. Nothing.
If he had been a white officer can came back with nothing,his next career move would have been to get a taxi driver license in NYC because he WOULD have been put out of the army.
And to add insult to injury,I have been told or read that he got a Purple Heart and a CIB while serving as a Major and Staff Officer on his second tour,and ALL he did was give briefings in air-conditioned rooms and act as a flunky for the General he served under. IF what I heard and read is true,both awards should be,but won't be,taken away from him because he didn't earn them. The ONLY excitement that occurred on that tour was when he was riding as a passenger on a milk-run helicopter that developed mechanical problems and had a rough landing. Powell was slightly injured,and did get,and earn,a ribbon for pulling a seriously injured soldier out of the wreckage and giving him first aid,but there was NO combat involved,and no combat means no CIB and no Purple Heart.
