Out Damn Blot: A Letter to Colin Powell
By Ray McGovern
August 15, 2008
Dear Colin,
You have said you regret the “blot” on your record caused by your parroting spurious intelligence at the U.N. to justify war on Iraq. On the chance you may not have noticed, I write to point out that you now have a unique opportunity to do some rehab on your reputation.
If you were blindsided, well, here’s an opportunity to try to wipe off some of the blot. There is no need for you to end up like Lady Macbeth, wandering around aimlessly muttering, Out damn spot…or blot.
It has always strained credulity, at least as far as I was concerned, to accept the notion that naiveté prevented you from seeing through the game Vice President Dick Cheney and then-CIA Director George Tenet were playing on Iraq.
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Your U.N. speech of Feb. 5, 2003 left me speechless, so to speak — largely because of the measure of respect I had had for you before then.
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You have not yet summoned the courage to admit it, but I think I know you well enough to believe you have a Lady Macbeth-type conscience problem that goes far beyond the spot on your record.
With 4,141 American soldiers — not to mention hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens — dead, and over 30,000 GIs badly wounded, how could you not?
What Did You Know…and When?
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Think about it.
With all due respect,
Ray McGovern
much more at:
http://consortiumnews.com/2008/081508a.html