A failed mission for citizen Powell
BY JUAN ANDRADE
Columnist
The Chicago Sun-Times
February 7, 2003
Ever since President Bush decided to shift the focus of our war on terrorism away from Osama bin Laden to Saddam Hussein, a shift to which I have always been opposed, I have looked to Secretary of State Colin Powell to tell me and all who are willing to listen just how serious of a threat Saddam is to our national security.
I honestly don't trust Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney or Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld (he's been offending more than defending lately) the way I trust Powell. Those three amigos have always come across as half-cocked, trigger-happy cowboys. But I've always understood that, to generals, war is the last resort. I guess it's because generals are military men who have seen people die, whether enemies or innocent civilians when nations are at war, unlike the civilians they have sworn to obey.
As a young lieutenant, Powell witnessed firsthand the senselessness of Vietnam, a war in which thousands upon thousands of young Americans, like those in uniform today, lost their lives because two Americans, LBJ and RFK, feared and distrusted each other more than our troops had reason to hate the Viet Cong or North Vietnamese. Volumes have been written about ego-driven shaping of America's foreign policy in Vietnam.
For starters, I would suggest reading Jeff Shesol's Mutual Contempt, a scholarly analysis of Lyndon Johnson's and Robert Kennedy's struggle for power and control of American foreign policy in Vietnam. At times it's hard to tell whether these two men were as concerned for the safety and well-being of American troops as they were about their political futures. The insanity of Vietnam was Powell's first experience in executing American foreign policy. I'm sure the painful experience and inevitable fiasco made an indelible impression on Powell and shaped the general who has become known as ''the reluctant warrior.''
I've always had a favorable impression of Powell, as obviously most Americans now have as well. A Gallup Poll this week found that Americans give Powell an 86 percent overall favorable rating, which is really extraordinary when compared to Bush, whose favorable rating stands at a very respectable 68 percent today. Knowing Powell, he probably finds his 18-point advantage over his boss a little embarrassing. With all due respect to Bush, Americans understandably regard the cool-headed Powell and his voice of reason more favorably.
The poll found Powell to be the most trusted member of the Bush administration, and when it comes to U.S. policy toward Iraq, Americans seem to consider Powell more trustworthy. Indeed, 63 percent of Americans said they trust Powell more than Bush on Iraq by 63 percent to 24 percent. Is it any wonder that Bush has turned to Powell to make our case against Saddam?
So I listened Wednesday as Powell laid out the evidence against Saddam. Did he convince Hans Blix that UN inspectors had been given enough time? Convince the Security Council that Saddam was in material breach of UN Resolution 1441? Convince skeptical nations that Iraq was not cooperating with the inspectors and in reality was trying to thwart the inspections? Convince any more nations with ragtag armies to join our U.S.-funded multinational coalition? Convince China, France or Russia to at least provide some favorable lip service? Convince anyone that Iraq was tied to al-Qaida? Or convince us that disarming Saddam is absolutely imperative, using a preemptive military strike if necessary?
Seven questions. Seven answers. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Though Powell was brilliant and his performance was nothing short of grand, his evidence did not measure up. The evidence was impressive but not convincing.
Not since 1962 has an American diplomat taken on such a gargantuan task. But the point Powell proved before the UN--that Saddam is a threat to his people and the world--did not have to be proved. What he didn't prove was that a short-term military victory was worth its long-term consequences to our national security or peace in the world.
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