The Powell Doctrine

[Toots]

Define your mission, use overwhelming force to accomplish it and then get the hell out (Exit Strategy). To me that shows a real concern for the troops. Don't leave them hanging. If you must as a last resort put our troops in harms way then support them with the full strength of the USA. OVERWHELMING FORCE. That means you get in there and get the job done ASAP and get the troops out of harms way. That IMO is real honest support of the troops. If you can't do that then don't involve the military. Anyone notice how quickly the Powell Doctrine was abandoned after the Bush* Cabal took power? The very last thing they do is support the troops. There is no clear definable mission and there is no exit strategy. There is only Death and Mayhem. Notice how well Clinton followed that course. No American troops were lost in any mission started by Clinton. Remember Somalia was a Bush incursion and Clinton removed the troops as quickly as possible after things started getting fuzzy. How many lives did that action save? If Bush* had been in power we would still be in Somalia getting our soldiers dragged half naked through the streets and Bush* going "stay the course"... Support our troops by getting them out of harms way especially if the mission is not defined nor any plan to ever leave... Support the troops and Remove Bush* and Cabal.

[Bucky]

1. My favorite Powell maxim: "You never know what you can get away with...

...until you try." He may have been a true conservative in ways that Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld will never be. But he was also a true Republican. He may have had qualms about the adventure in Iraq, but the bottom line is that Powell signed up for the gig, signed on for the plan, and with a lot more intelligence access than you or I had still fully supported this war for the whole time he was in a position to matter.

I respected him before the war--his doctrine is solid gold. Powell the man is as big a tyrant as the rest of them.

[Toots]

2. I agree and am in no way trying to build up Powell except for his view on the troops.

:shrug: IMO He is as bad or worse than all of them because he knew better and went along anyway.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

3. They didn't support Powell himself very much either. Of course Powell didn't help himself out

very much by selling out.

I'll always remember him before the U.N. speaking about WMD "evidence".

Amazing how such a valuable "lesson learned" like the Powell Doctrine could be "unlearned" within a generation, for political expediency. Have we "relearned" it now? I think not.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powell_doctrine

[salin]

5. Bingo ... imagine if he had resigned as SOS - the day before

he was slated to go before the UN. That would have been the honorable thing to do - and to do it in away that the media coverage, questions and confusion would have stumbled the admin a bit and might have slowed (or stopped - if a big enough fuss went on long enough for the BAD intel to fully come to light)) the march to war. He DID have a choice.

[driver8]

6. You are absolutely right -- he knew what was up and sold his soul to the "devils".

I have zero respect for that man. As far as I'm concerned, there is a place at the Hague for him right next to Pissypants and the rest of the criminals.

[twilight_sailing]

7. "imagine if he had resigned as SOS - the day before"

Yes indeed.

We need men and women of courage in our leadership.

[CJCRANE]

4. The Powell Doctrine would never have worked with the PNAC plans

to knock down and dominate their list of seven countries in rapid succession.

The Rumsfeld "shock and awe" war on the cheap was the preferred solution.