I understand why Colin Powell is trying to salvage his reputation, but I’m tired of hearing about these desperate efforts (and see Cenk Uygur’s video here).  Instead of following his marching orders in 2003, Powell  should have stood up at the U.N. and said something like this:

The Bush Administration wants me to claim that there is a watertight case that Iraq will soon be inflicting massive damage on the United States using powerful weapons.  I refuse to make this statement because, to my knowledge and belief, it is not true.  There is no credible evidence that Iraq has ‘weapons of mass destruction.’  The “evidence” offered by the Administration consists entirely of questionable statements by biased and unsavory characters. I will not be part of this scheme to defraud the American People and our allies around the world.

Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney had planned to attack Iraq even before they were elected into office and it is my strong suspicion that they are encouraging others to manufacture false evidence to suit their desires.   And let me be clear that there is no connection between 9/11 and this attempted warmongering.

I hereby resign my post as Secretary of State.

Can you believe that a Secretary of State is now  saying that he was duped? What the hell did he think his job was? To be a hand-puppet for the Vice-President or to exercise independent judgment?  Truly, when there were only a few sketchy bits of evidence on which an entire war was being justified, why wouldn’t he insist that these characters should be flown to Washington for detailed self-critical interrogation?  Further, how is it that a smattering of reports regarding possible weapons justify a huge war effort, especially when this country has had thousands of nuclear missile aimed at it for decades (by the Soviet Union and presumably other countries), yet we can apparently keep that in perspective.

Powell’s U.N. speech was a no-balls moment for Powell, and his carefully calculated lies and omissions that evening have cost this country dearly. He gets no sympathy from me for his over-willingness to plunge this country into war effort so ineffective and corrupt and dangerous that media reports still don’t spent time on Iraqi street to gather information.