Recently, a friend and myself were discussing Iraq. He is a retired infantry officer and feels pretty much as I do: HOPELESS. Because we both feel so helpless, we posed the philosophical question: at any point, would it have made any difference had someone "stood up" even though the Commander in Chief appears to have been settled into a "don't confuse me with facts, I have my mind made up" mentality.
My friend named two who could have made a difference in his opinion: Colin Powell and Condaleeza Rice. I will have to admit that I've never been much of a fan of Colin Powell. And, the reason is pretty subjective. I was stationed at Forces Command in Atlanta, Georgia when he came to visit. At that time, he was a big wheel, like Chief of Staff of the Army or Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He spoke to the troops and laced his talk with ample profanity. Not that it was a big deal. However, had he not been black, somebody in the hierarchy would have crucified him. Regardless, if you look at the history of Iraq and especially Condaleeza Rice's role of National Security Advisor and now, of course, Secretary of State--the opportunity was there. These two have had a chance to effect history and they did not.
Why? Well, I'll have to leave that to history. But when they had a chance to go in another direction on Iraq, they either denied or were fooled: in Condi's case, I think she is so loyal to the President and as someone has suggested, his alter ego, that she simply folded.
Whatever, the "yes sir, yes sir, three bags full" of Powell and Rice have not served us well.
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