Friday Freefly- Remind me why I liked Powell

Posted By Uncle Jimbo

I am trying to remember what I liked so much about Colin Powell. I met him in Okinawa when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and shook his hand but that isn’t much of a basis for a political judgment. I thought it was a good idea when W made him Secretary of State, but looking back I think that was just because it was helpful to have a black man in that role. Since that elevation Powell has been anything but an ally of or faithful to the President. His tenure at State was a dismal failure as he joined or led the anti-W, Anti-war Realpolitik cabal there and actively opposed and undermined the goals of an adminsitration he had sworn to serve. He is always credited as the reasonable voice of opposition in W’s band of cowboys, but once a decision was made he should have carried out the policies that he and State worked to derail. His complete emasculation at the UN by Domenic “the backstabbin’ poet” De Villepin was an embarrassment that weakened the US publicly and made all our diplomatic efforts more difficult. He continues to weasel his way left with one of the most profoundly stupid statements I can recall an educated person making.

“The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism. To redefine Common Article 3 would add to those doubts. Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk.”

The first sentence is simply incomprehensible as it is written. The moral basis for fighting terrorism is that killing innocents is evil, stopping those who kill innocents is good, period. Powell’s letter wasn’t so long that he couldn’t have taken the care to say what I assume he meant, The world is beginning to doubt the techniques we use in the fight against terrorism. The idea that our tactics in this war could ever undermine the moral basis for opposing terror is foolish and if somehow it happened it would simply be a reason to ignore the thoughts of those unable to sanction opposing evil.

His last sentence is at least a debatable point, although again incorrect in my mind. The idea that our actions in relation to the treatment of prisoners has any impact on our enemies treatment of our prisoners is an oft-repeated trope that has no basis in fact. Since the Geneva Conventions have been in effect we have fought a number of wars and in each one our enemies tortured and killed our POWs with very little regard for these rules.

WWII- Both the Germans and Japanese committed scores of atrocities against US POWs. While it may have been better to do time in a German Stalag rather than a Japanese prison factory or forced labor camp, it was a matter of degree. The Japanese slaughtered or worked to death thousands of US prisoners.

Korean War- The North Koreans and Chinese killed hundreds of POWs and sent others to China for experiments or specialized interrogation.

Vietnam- Ask John McCain about the strict adherence his Vietnames captors had while torturing him and many others and killing those who bucked the system.

Gulf War- US and British airmen captured were tortured severely, although in most cases were not summarily executed.

Afghanistan- I am unaware of any US troops being captured, but Navy SEAL Neil Roberts body was desecrated as soon as he was killed. In addition during the Soviet occupation the horrors committed by the Afghan women on captured soldiers were legendary and I doubt we would fare any better.

Iraq- The only folks captured in Iraq who have survived have been journalists and peace activists who paid ransoms to the terrorists, escaped or were rescued. US personnel have been tortured, slaughtered and their bodies desecrated.

Where are we reaping the benefits of this wonderful treaty, which from my view ties our hands and gains us nothing in return. There was a time when it may have had an impact on states that were allied with our true enemies, but these days the people we fight are barbaric and the Geneva Conventions are actually quaint. I’m not saying we shouldn’t follow them, but we should do so because it is the right thing, not for false assurances.

In a perfect example of hoisting your self on your own petard, the Pakistani Foreign Minister encapsulated the problem we face and the nature of our enemy.

“Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. The idea that we can reach common ground with tens of millions of people who agree with this jackass is ludicrous. Islam is not tolerant and can’t be considered so until the folks who think they can dictate what the rest of us say or think about their God or religion are no longer in the forefront.

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Friday Freefly- Remind me why I liked Powell

I am trying to remember what I liked so much about Colin Powell. I met him in Okinawa when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and shook his hand but that isn’t much of a basis for a political judgment. I thought it was a good idea when W made him Secretary of State, but looking back I think that was just because it was helpful to have a black man in that role. Since that elevation Powell has been anything but an ally of or faithful to the President. His tenure at State was a dismal failure as he joined or led the anti-W, Anti-war Realpolitik cabal there and actively opposed and undermined the goals of an adminsitration he had sworn to serve. He is always credited as the reasonable voice of opposition in W’s band of cowboys, but once a decision was made he should have carried out the policies that he and State worked to derail. His complete emasculation at the UN by Domenic “the backstabbin’ poet” De Villepin was an embarrassment that weakened the US publicly and made all our diplomatic efforts more difficult. He continues to weasel his way left with one of the most profoundly stupid statements I can recall an educated person making.

“The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism. To redefine Common Article 3 would add to those doubts. Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk.”

The first sentence is simply incomprehensible as it is written. The moral basis for fighting terrorism is that killing innocents is evil, stopping those who kill innocents is good, period. Powell’s letter wasn’t so long that he couldn’t have taken the care to say what I assume he meant, The world is beginning to doubt the techniques we use in the fight against terrorism. The idea that our tactics in this war could ever undermine the moral basis for opposing terror is foolish and if somehow it happened it would simply be a reason to ignore the thoughts of those unable to sanction opposing evil.

His last sentence is at least a debatable point, although again incorrect in my mind. The idea that our actions in relation to the treatment of prisoners has any impact on our enemies treatment of our prisoners is an oft-repeated trope that has no basis in fact. Since the Geneva Conventions have been in effect we have fought a number of wars and in each one our enemies tortured and killed our POWs with very little regard for these rules.

WWII- Both the Germans and Japanese committed scores of atrocities against US POWs. While it may have been better to do time in a German Stalag rather than a Japanese prison factory or forced labor camp, it was a matter of degree. The Japanese slaughtered or worked to death thousands of US prisoners.

Korean War- The North Koreans and Chinese killed hundreds of POWs and sent others to China for experiments or specialized interrogation.

Vietnam- Ask John McCain about the strict adherence his Vietnames captors had while torturing him and many others and killing those who bucked the system.

Gulf War- US and British airmen captured were tortured severely, although in most cases were not summarily executed.

Afghanistan- I am unaware of any US troops being captured, but Navy SEAL Neil Roberts body was desecrated as soon as he was killed. In addition during the Soviet occupation the horrors committed by the Afghan women on captured soldiers were legendary and I doubt we would fare any better.

Iraq- The only folks captured in Iraq who have survived have been journalists and peace activists who paid ransoms to the terrorists, escaped or were rescued. US personnel have been tortured, slaughtered and their bodies desecrated.

Where are we reaping the benefits of this wonderful treaty, which from my view ties our hands and gains us nothing in return. There was a time when it may have had an impact on states that were allied with our true enemies, but these days the people we fight are barbaric and the Geneva Conventions are actually quaint. I’m not saying we shouldn’t follow them, but we should do so because it is the right thing, not for false assurances.

In a perfect example of hoisting your self on your own petard, the Pakistani Foreign Minister encapsulated the problem we face and the nature of our enemy.

“Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. The idea that we can reach common ground with tens of millions of people who agree with this jackass is ludicrous. Islam is not tolerant and can’t be considered so until the folks who think they can dictate what the rest of us say or think about their God or religion are no longer in the forefront.

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