Too late to have had a significant effect on major world events.

Too late to have slowed down Bush's reckless march to war against Iraq.

Too late to have offered the American people vital information before making their fateful decision on November 2.

Too late to have salvaged his own reputation.

Being a "good soldier" is not always good for the country, and Colin Powell will go down in history as a case in point.

According to Bob Woodward's books, Powell knew that the war against Iraq was unwise. He finally was able to meet with the President in the summer of 2002 to make his case. The President listened, but his mind was already made up.

At that point, Powell should have gotten off the war train and gone public with his doubts.

Maybe then, Congress would not have granted Bush the blank check that he quickly cashed to go to war against Iraq.

Instead, Powell chose to front for Bush and Cheney and Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, parroting their propaganda, most embarrassingly at the United Nations in February of 2003. There, before all the world, Powell presented, in his most authoritative manner, a detailed case against Saddam Hussein, citing "evidence" about weapons of mass destruction and about connections to Al Qaeda. On point after point, Powell was not telling the truth.

This marked the nadir of Powell's career, and it is an indelible blot on his record.

Having been so burned by the intelligence community, having been so outmuscled and outmaneuvered by Rumsfeld and Cheney and Wolfowitz, and recognizing the destructive folly of their neoconservative policies, Powell had an obligation to resign before November 2 and to warn the American people of the dangers this crowd represents.

Once again, though, Powell took the course of least resistance.

By failing to resign on principle, by agreeing to put a sensible face on a senseless policy, Colin Powell owes the nation and the world an apology.

© 2004 The Progressive

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