Colin Powell Resigns

[mickyzzzzz05]

Just saw it on CNN - I knew he was thinking about it. I really admire him - thought he did a great job and I think our country will miss him.

 

[castlegazer]

This is bad, very bad. His military philosophy is a strong and sound philosophy but was shoved to the sidelines in this administration and he must be extremely frustrated. I don't blame him and quite frankly had expected it prior to now.

 

[Serena]

this is not good.

 

[Paradise]

I'm glad to see him go. His reputation and legacy has been ruined by joining this inept administration. From the very beginning, he was against going to war with Iraq but the neo-cons won out. He went along with it at the end because he is a good soldier.

Here is a man that is more qualified to be president, than the 6 year old the RED STATES have running the country.

 

[BuckNaked]

Originally posted by Paradise
Here is a man that is more qualified to be president, than the 6 year old the RED STATES have running the country.

 

[Teejay32]

I'm listening to talk radio, NPR, discuss Powell's resignation...someone connected with the Beirut Star in Lebanon is saying that the world views the US as a rogue state...then he qualified it, that the US is acting outside of global norms in the areas of law and morality. He says the Arab world sees three foreign policies coming out of America - tradition conservativism, neo-conservatism, and Powell's more enlightened diplomacy and multilateralism. And that they see Powell as having been weak and ineffectual against Cheney, Rumsfeld and so forth. It's interesting.

I don't think there's a more honorable person in the world than Colin Powell, but I have to wonder if half of his reputation is pure myth.

 

[dmadman43]

this really is not that big of a surprise. Think of it this way, anyone Bush will pick has to be better than potential of Richard Holbrooke or Joe Biden in those roles.

 

[mrsltg]

Not to mention, Colin Powell was reluctant to step into public service after his career in the military ended. His wife really wanted him to be a regular 9-5 kind of guy. I can understand that. I think that he is, at this point, just done with public service.

Erin

 

[tar heel]

I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm not surprised. The surprise is that he lasted as long as he did.

 

[rcyannacci]

Originally posted by tar heel
I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm not surprised. The surprise is that he lasted as long as he did.

My thoughts exactly. I think he was a good and able public servant, but that he was a fish out of water in this administration.

 

[Mermaid02]

I think I remember his wife not being at all happy when he took his current position- she suffers from some kind of anxiety and does not like the public life. I wish him well- I hope he enjoys a more private life!

 

[Maleficent13]

Isn't most of Bush's cabinet gone now? They were reading a laundry list on the radio this morning of all the resignations. Is this a bit weird? I honestly don't know, as I did not become interested in politics until the election 4 years ago. When Bush was elected, I expected a complete cabinet change (obviously). I didn't expect it on his re-election.

 

[Galahad]

Originally posted by Maleficent13
Isn't most of Bush's cabinet gone now? They were reading a laundry list on the radio this morning of all the resignations. Is this a bit weird? I honestly don't know, as I did not become interested in politics until the election 4 years ago. When Bush was elected, I expected a complete cabinet change (obviously). I didn't expect it on his re-election.

No, it's not even near a majority of the cabinet yet. A virtual complete reshuffle of the cabinet in the second term is pretty common. It doesn't usually happen all at once, but certainly in the first few weeks/months. There are often even more cabinet members who left administrations during the first term than left Bush's first term. Clinton had a lot of turn over but had some very visible folks that stayed a long time....like Reno. There were a lot of shake ups in Reagan's cabinet. I read the other day that it use to be standard that on first meeting after a re-election it was standard for a President to ask for letters of resignation from his entire cabinet and then he decided who to keep and who to replace.

 

[Galahad]

Rice 'likely' to take over for Powell
Administration's moderate voice to leave State Dept.
By Corbett B. Daly, CBS MarketWatch
Last Update: 2:27 PM ET Nov. 15, 2004

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- White House National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice is "likely" to succeed Colin Powell as secretary of state, senior administration officials told CBS News on condition of anonymity.

This would be a good thing IMO!

 

[dcentity2000]

Posted this a little earlier. Just in case anyone cares:

Source reports that Colin Powell, Spencer Abraham, Ann Veneman and Rod Paige are all to leave the Bush administration, following the departure of both John Ashcroft and Don Evans on the 10th of November. Mr. Powell has confirmed this on his account.

Mr. Powell was seen as "a moderating force" and was popular among politicians; however, he ended up at odds with the Whitehouse over the Iraq conflict. His highest profile event was to make a statement to the United Nations outlining the reasons for war; he later admitted that some of the information in that speech - particularly about mobile laboratories allegedly used for making biological weapons - "appeared not to be ... that solid."

"The Secretary announced to his staff this morning that he had submitted his resignation on Friday," Reuters quoted a state department official as saying. "He said he was staying on until a successor is confirmed and on board."

The 67-year-old was long rumoured to have planned to serve only one term as secretary of state. He was often seen as a moderate in a cabinet full of hawks, who sometimes struggled to get his voice heard.

Upon close inspection two of the "laboratories" turned out to be abandoned caravans with narry a molecule of anything more dangerous than helium within them. Whatever your thoughts on the rest of the war, you have to admit, mistaking an abandoned caravan for a mobile bio-weapons research facility is not exactly easy and probably didn't do the poor man's pride much good at all...

In related news, the CIA agent who headed the hunt for Osama Bin Laden in the late 1990s has called for a national debate in the US on the cost of support for Israel.

Mike Scheuer quit the CIA last week, as did CIA deputy director John McLaughlin, fuelling rumours of serious internal rifts and low morale. In a BBC interview, Mr Scheuer said US policies risked "an extraordinarily long and bloody war" against al-Qaeda. He said he had resigned to speak out over US government security failings.

Mr. Scheuer has called for a debate upon the funding of Israel as well as renewable energy and concerns over President Bush's rejection of various pacts over the latter have subsequently emerged.

This outmigration of senior political figures is partnered with the current pseudo-exodus of US citizens, attempting to migrate away from America and into Canada and the United Kingdom following President Bush's re-election, accomponied by a spoof site set up encouraging Canadians to marry Americans in order to help them move from America for the next four years.

Rich::

 

[swilphil]

I have a lot of respect for Powell. He really made a name for himself during the first Gulf War and won a lot of respect. It seems that he was used by this Bush administration to testify before the UN. I know a lot of people were skeptical about going into Iraq until Powell endorsed it. It seems he has been very quiet for a very long time now, especially considering the importance of foreign policy at the moment.

Rice is undoubtedly bright and very well spoken, but it seems like she just follows the lead of Cheney and Rumsfeld. I'd rather have a Sec. of State who is more of an independent thinker.

 

[jimmiej]

Didn't CP say from the start he would only serve one term?

 

[dmadman43]

Originally posted by jimmiej
Didn't CP say from the start he would only serve one term?

Not sure about that, but I do think the CW was that he would likely step down and not serve a second term. I think the real surprise would have been if he stayed on a second term.

 

[Elwood Blues]

Originally posted by jimmiej
Didn't CP say from the start he would only serve one term?

Yes, he did.

But that won't stop the spin (already started) to push that fact aside and turning it into a "Bush sucks" campaign.

 

[CarolA]

Secretary Rice?? Sorry, but regardless of how you think about Bush the Sec State needs to be someone who will be considered "worthy" by our allies and even our enimies. Ms. Rice is just not going to carry that weight. She will just be seen as a Bush puppet with no real power of her own.

(Not that W asked my thoughts LOL!)