A Salvage Attempt

Former Secretary of State and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell should have been a poster child for the American dream. He was, after all, an African American who rose to great heights. Unfortunately, his name will forever be linked to the successful effort of lying the US into the illegal and unwarranted Iraq War. His stunning display at the United Nations where he carried the false "intelligence" on Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, replete with charts and hand-drawn graphics, was a key bit of propaganda which was directed more to the American audience than the international, and it worked.

Now, 3500 American service personnel deaths later, he has finally broken the silence he has maintained since leaving his post as Secretary of State at the end of President Bush's first term. Yesterday he actually criticised one of the most contentious of White House policies: the holding of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. From today's Los Angeles Times:

Appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," Powell urged that the military commission system for accused terrorists be scrapped, and that detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, be taken to the United States and handled through the federal justice system. The United States continues to hold about 385 people in the detention center, despite the complaints of human rights advocates and other foreign and domestic critics. Their continued imprisonment there, he said, has "shaken the belief that the world had in America's justice system."

Responding to defenders of the current system who are reluctant to allow detainees access to lawyers and judicial protections, Powell said, "So what? Let them…. America, unfortunately, has 2 million people in jail, all of whom had lawyers and access to writs of habeas corpus…. We can handle bad people in our system."

While what General Powell said is true, it would have been more helpful if he had said it sooner, like when Guantanamo Bay was being set up as the black pit holding tank it became. It's clear that his objections would have been ignored, but at that point an honorable man would have promptly resigned his position and explained to the public why the resignation was necessary. Others have done so under similar and less serious circumstances.

And his silence the past two years since leaving his post has been telling. The only hint the American public had that he was unhappy with how the White House operated came only indirectly, from an aide not even designated as a spokesman. Why is General Powell now willing to appear on a Sunday talk show and express his criticism of White House policy? Is it because it is safe, now that a huge majority of Americans are opposed to the Iraq War in particular and Bush policies in general?

What a shame.