Colin Powell fails Military History

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

I said last week that Colin Powell’s statements about our moral basis for fighting the war on terror were at best misguided and at worst foolishly naive. He trumps that now with a complete loss of historical perspective about how our enemies treat captured Americans.

Powell, elaborating on a position first expressed last week in a letter to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), also argued that the administration’s plan to “clarify” U.S. obligations under the Geneva Conventions would set a precedent for other nations that would endanger U.S. troops.

“Suppose North Korea or somebody else wants to redefine or ‘clarify’ ” Geneva Conventions provisions prohibiting “outrages against personal dignity” and “humiliating and degrading treatment” of prisoners, he said.

I was under the impression that Mr. Powell was an educated man, and that we could place some sort of weight on his opinion. But someone commenting on the relative likelihood that North Korea might torture and/or kill our POWs, ought to at least remember they have already done so. The Korean War was full of examples of massacres and torture and rendition of POWs to China for human experiments. For North Korea to redefine or clarify it’s position re. the Geneva Conventions would require it to start abiding by them. Powell’s sorry statement is simply a rehash of media jackal David Gregory’s little swipe at the President during his last press conference, except Gregory at least mentioned Iran in addition to North Korea. I am stunned at the level of intellectual detachment it takes to poke your nose into a serious national security discussion, and show how little you understand it by saying such a fundamentally ignorant thing. The only outrage or humiliation involved with Powell’s latest opposition to this administration has been to what is left of his reputation.

The truly bizarre thing about McCain and Powell teaming up to ensure no evil scumbag catches a belly slap, is that McCain knows more than just about anyone how much our actions affect those of our enemies regarding treatment of POWs. The Vietnamese managed just about every war crime and violation of Geneva possible, and Powell presumably has heard of the Korean War but remains blissfully unaware of the North Korean atrocities.

I thought McCain Feingold was the partnership most destructive to our freedom by squashing freedom of speech, but McCain Powell may turn out to be worse as they try to hamstring our ability to collect and utilize intelligence that can stop terrorist attacks. That is what this is all about, right?

---

Mission: To protect and promote the reputation and dignity of America's Warriors.
Join us!

Comments

Colin Powell fails Military History

I said last week that Colin Powell’s statements about our moral basis for fighting the war on terror were at best misguided and at worst foolishly naive. He trumps that now with a complete loss of historical perspective about how our enemies treat captured Americans.

Powell, elaborating on a position first expressed last week in a letter to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), also argued that the administration’s plan to “clarify” U.S. obligations under the Geneva Conventions would set a precedent for other nations that would endanger U.S. troops.

“Suppose North Korea or somebody else wants to redefine or ‘clarify’ ” Geneva Conventions provisions prohibiting “outrages against personal dignity” and “humiliating and degrading treatment” of prisoners, he said.

I was under the impression that Mr. Powell was an educated man, and that we could place some sort of weight on his opinion. But someone commenting on the relative likelihood that North Korea might torture and/or kill our POWs, ought to at least remember they have already done so. The Korean War was full of examples of massacres and torture and rendition of POWs to China for human experiments. For North Korea to redefine or clarify it’s position re. the Geneva Conventions would require it to start abiding by them. Powell’s sorry statement is simply a rehash of media jackal David Gregory’s little swipe at the President during his last press conference, except Gregory at least mentioned Iran in addition to North Korea. I am stunned at the level of intellectual detachment it takes to poke your nose into a serious national security discussion, and show how little you understand it by saying such a fundamentally ignorant thing. The only outrage or humiliation involved with Powell’s latest opposition to this administration has been to what is left of his reputation.

The truly bizarre thing about McCain and Powell teaming up to ensure no evil scumbag catches a belly slap, is that McCain knows more than just about anyone how much our actions affect those of our enemies regarding treatment of POWs. The Vietnamese managed just about every war crime and violation of Geneva possible, and Powell presumably has heard of the Korean War but remains blissfully unaware of the North Korean atrocities.

I thought McCain Feingold was the partnership most destructive to our freedom by squashing freedom of speech, but McCain Powell may turn out to be worse as they try to hamstring our ability to collect and utilize intelligence that can stop terrorist attacks. That is what this is all about, right?

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341bfadb53ef00d834b2593a53ef

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Colin Powell fails Military History: