By
Ryan Morden
June 6, 2008
Dear Colin Powell,
Olly, olly, oxen free. It’s time for you to come out.
Today is the last day of school. We’re officially heading into summer.
Unfortunately, it will be a dark summer. Not because our fine research institution is located in Seattle, but because The United States is in terrible shape.
We aren’t better off than we were eight years ago, and, sadly, you are to blame for some of this. This is documented and clear, but you haven’t come out to own it yet.
The longer you remain out of the spotlight, the more disrespect you are showing to Americans and the people of the world.
The crappy presentation you gave in February 2003 at the U.N., the greatest display of fiction storytelling in diplomatic history, is still unaccounted for.
The most disappointing thing you can do to cap your career is to come out with a memoir detailing your role within President Bush’s first term, just like Scott McClellan.
The bookstore isn’t the place to learn about what McClellan calls “a strategic blunder.”
The thought of you and a publisher profiting from the devastating truth you’re selling is horrifying. General Powell, you’re better than that.
The evidence is overwhelming. As Tim Russert might say, this is a war out of choice, not necessity.
You know it. The administration knows it. Anyone who can think critically knows it.
Every day, the black stain of this foreign policy blunder gets darker and darker. The best way to put us back on track is to start at the beginning and work from there.
Sadly, you can see that Americans aren’t fazed by Scooter Libby and Karl Rove’s disgrace in outing a CIA agent.
As for Scott McClellen, the president’s former spokesliar, his book won’t put a dent in the American view of our foreign policy.
Powell, I challenge you to write a confession to America in a New York Times op-ed.
From there, I challenge you to go public on all the major talk shows, and answer everyone’s question candidly.
You supposedly started to crack a little bit this past July when you stated that you tried to persuade President Bush not to go to war. This is not good enough.
America needs all the cards turned over in order to move on. It’s going to take you to wake everyone from this hypnotized notion that the Bush administration is right.
In the meantime, more soldiers are dying and more Americans are suffering due to the spending during this war economy. I’m not going to say every casualty in this occupation could have been prevented.
America can trust you because you are not a politician. The Republican party tried to run you as a politician and that didn’t turn out well. You’re an honest guy.
You can stop John McCain from getting elected on the Bush administration’s platform. McCain is hopeless when it comes to this war and what he thinks a realistic outcome will be.
This is key because Americans need to realize what democracy looks like in the Middle East via Israel.
Israel, a beacon of democracy in the Middle East, has been fighting terrorism on a daily basis for 60 years. Mandatory service in the Israeli Defense Force and constant threats only show that Iraq can’t be wrapped up in a tidy bow.
We need you to come clean.
5 Comments
#1 Nicholas Hart
on June 6, 2008 at 10:11 a.m.(Seattle, WA | Unverified Name)
Israel is a "beacon of democracy?" What is the Daily editorial board smoking?
Non-jews have fewer rights than jews. Illegal occupations and settlements on Palestinian lands. Collective punishment. Barring outspoken journalists from entering their country. Assassination and imprisonment of political opposition.
If that's democracy then I fear what the Daily hopes to see in this country.
#2 sambone
on June 6, 2008 at 10:32 a.m.(Seattle, WA | Unverified Name)
i concur with previous poster- i was all set to forward this piece on to a couple of news blogs to try to get the ball rolling on colin powell, but those last two paragraphs just killed it. a mortal wound to the foot.
#3 Steve Kittel
on June 6, 2008 at 10:35 a.m.(Bellevue, WA | Unverified Name)
The author of this article has done nothing but written another polarizing piece that is a pathetic attempt to serve the liberal agenda.
What liberals don't think about is the big picture: what would happen if Iran acquired nukes; how rampant the Taliban could be if unchecked, and who would fill the vacuum of power when Saddam was gone. It was only a matter of time after 9/11 that elements that are nothing but evil would combine, directly or in ideolgical representation to Islamic countries.
Why can't you get past the dripping hatred you have of your country and open your eyes? You are all so filled of it for BUSH/CHENEY/ROVE/RUMSFELD that you'd think these men just tried to impeach your own husbands judging by the regard that you hold them by.
Soldiers volunteer to serve our military and fight for the freedomds you have, enjoy, and take advantage of everyday. They are not dying so that you can use their statistics in an argument. I'm willing to bet that if alive today, the last thing they would want is you liberals using their names for argument ammo.
America and the rest of the civilized world needs a strategic foothold in the ME. The oil reserves in that region are a pillar of our economy and way of life.
What do you think will happen when another tyrant dumps billions of gallons of oil into the gulf? Do you not think bin Laden's success on 9/11 will not foment other people, and, more dangerously, world leaders and future world leaders to rival his attack(s)?
I suppose we can talk to them right? Sit down and forgive the country that aimed Russian nukes at us? No biggie.
Do you like the good we do in the world? Do you like the liberation of innocents so many American troops have fought for since our country's inception?
Put down the hatred and realize this world is not a big fuzzy that everyone caan hug and get along. If you want the clear good this country does to proceed, we must protect ourselves and our interests.
Put down the hatred. There is no "vast right wing conspiracy," guys.
#4 Doug
on June 6, 2008 at 11:44 a.m.(Everett, WA | Unverified Name)
Steve,
Please look yourself in the mirror, and say top yourself in a calm, quiet and reflective voice that it has not been the primary focus of Bush, Cheney, Rove and Rumsfeld to lie to each and every American and world citizen.
If you can do that without laughing at yourself, please check your pulse and report back to us, okay?
Good luck,
Doug
#5 boondox
on June 6, 2008 at 12:46 p.m.(Las Vegas, NV | Unverified Name)
"We aren’t better off than we were eight years ago . . . "
Eight years ago we were on the cusp of 9/11, a result of Clinton's decimation of our foreign intelligence capabilities. Fortunately, President Bush has, with great political effort and skill, managed to keep your fat, unappreciative, arse, safe.
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