Liberal Talk Radio

Colin Powell, aka the “Sackless Wonder” (so known for his dog-on-a-leash act at the UN in the run-up to Bush’s imperialist disaster in Iraq), decides it’s time to clean the smudge off his much-besmirched legacy:

THE former American secretary of state Colin Powell has revealed that he spent 2½ hours vainly trying to persuade President George W Bush not to invade Iraq and believes today’s conflict cannot be resolved by US forces.

“I tried to avoid this war,” Powell said at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado. “I took him through the consequences of going into an Arab country and becoming the occupiers.”

Well …

I want to like Colin Powell, I really do.  He’s a soldier who did good service for his country.  Or, to quote Linda Loman, “respect must be paid to this man.”

Still, I find this historical revisionism a bit unsettling.  If Powell really wanted to make a statement, he should’ve resigned in protest over this ridiculous war.  Instead, ever the good soldier, he fought his battle privately, and — having lost — made no further public efforts to stop the madness.  Alone among the leaders of our time, Powell had the respect and formal position to have made a difference, but he didn’t.