"It's not the kind of headline I would have expected from (a) vice president..."

[Amerigo Vespucci]

(AP/The Huffington Post) WASHINGTON — Former Secretary of State Colin Powell is accusing former Vice President Dick Cheney of taking "cheap shots" at him and others in a new book.

***

Last week, Cheney predicted "there are gonna be heads exploding all over Washington" upon the release of his book.

"That's quite a visual," Powell said of the former vice president's choice of words. " the kind of headline I would expect to come out of a gossip columnist or the kind of headline you might see one of the super market tabloids write. It's not the kind of headline I would have expected to come from one of the vice presidents of the United States of America."

He added, "I think Dick overshot the runway."

WATCH: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/28/colin-powell-dick-cheney-book_n_939548.html

[orpupilofnature57]

1. Sorry Colin , the time to tell the truth was when he was ruining the world

Alan GreeDspan with his late revelations ,i HATE INSIDE PEOPLE THAT ENABLE AND TELL.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

3. agreed

[roguevalley]

21. what can he expect from a freak. Considering he worked in the same

admin with the shithead, he can't complain. I consider him one of the worst freaks of all because he knew he was told to go to the UN and push lies and he did. Poor little Colin. Now he's all verklempt. Tough.

[elleng]

2. Glad he said it.

Was good to hear John Dean's 'review' of cheney vs. Powell on Keith's show, noting how ch+ had screwed Colin.

[elleng]

4. Very sorry to see people here dumping on Powell,

w no apparent understanding of what ch+ did to him, ignored and undermined him at every turn.

[rurallib]

5. I am asking this sincerely. My thoughts shortly after I learned that

Powell knew what he was saying was crap were then "why did he do it?"
Why did he ruin all the good he had accomplished and decide then to throw his reputation away on this one speech?
I understand he still hangs around with Junior, which tells me that he still supports in some ways all the crap that happened.
Hard for me not to dump on Powell. His reputation was the most important thing he had and he compromised it. I have never understood why.

[elleng]

8. He did not 'know what he was saying was crap.'

He did his best to confirm the facts, and was unable to uncover the lies until after.

[rhett o rick]

9. I dont buy that one bit. He knew who he was dealing with. Hell many Americans knew it was crap

just because it came from Bush/Cheney. He knew them very well. He knew that they played fast and loose with facts. He knew it was crap, anyone with half a brain knew it was crap. He had to made a decision at that point. Follow your leader or do the right thing. If he was used like he claims why didnt he make it right? If I were him, there would have been hell to pay. But he bowed down to King Georgie and took it like a good little soldier.
I blame the doers more than those that give the orders.

[roody]

13. Picasso's 'Guernica' was covered with fabric the day Powell

went to the UN to lie.

[rhett o rick]

16. I guess I am not smart enough to understand. nm

[roody]

22. Guernica is a mural which depicts the horrors of war.

[rhett o rick]

23. Thank you. I understand. nm

[roody]

24. Guernica

http://www.oneonta.edu/faculty/farberas/arth/arth200/guernica.html

[rhett o rick]

26. I am familiar with the works, and ashamed I missed it in your comment.

The works moves me to tears, honestly.

[rurallib]

14. Thanks for the reply. I had heard that but a couple of months later

on radio (can't remember the show. I believe it was "This American Life" - I know it was NPR) there was a story of a first hand witness who was helping Powell prepare for the speech.
The night before (according to the story) as he went through it one more time, he threw the speech against a wall and declared "this is all a bunch of lies and crap."
That story may have been a fabrication, but I didn't think so at the time. Further stories have come out since then that seem to support the position that he knew ahead of time.

Thank you so much for your response. I hope you do not think I am in any way trying to dis you. I can only learn by asking.

[elleng]

18. Thanks; no 'dis' taken.

Feel SO BAD for him (and us.) His 'knowledge' was, imo, what he believed; I wouldn't doubt story you heard. But, given the circumstances, prolly didn't have hard evidence for, surely not at the moment, so really not able to say "Sorry folks, I refuse."

:hi:

[sabrina 1]

20. I'm sorry, but he did know. He did make his feelings known

about how he felt at being asked to 'catapult' the lies, and managed to get some of them removed, but in the end, he dutifully went to the UN and sold the war to the American people. That was a moment when he had the choice of being either a hero or not. He chose to 'follow orders'. They might have killed him of course, or smeared him, it's most likely he would not have gotten off easy, but he wanted the job.

Millions of lives have been destroyed, hundreds of thousands of innocents are dead. We don't seem to be able to grasp the magnitude of the crime they committed. The innocent Iraqi victims remain faceless here in the US. Deliberately, but that doesn't mean they are faceless elsewhere.

Otoh, he is human and it would have taken extraordinary courage to have walked away at that point. They most likely would have found someone else to do their dirty anyhow. So, on a human level, I can understand. Those people were dangerous and not to be trifled with. Still, had he taken a stand, others who were not thrilled with what was going on, might have followed. And I think because he had credibility with the American people, it would have made their illegal, criminal war far more difficult to promote.

I think Col. Wilkerson has never gotten over what happened and obviously blames Cheney et al for the position Powell was placed in and it must have been extremely hard for him to watch it unfold. I do believe though that he would followed Powell had he quit at the time.

[orpupilofnature57]

6. Colin Powell ,is a good man and a Devoted soldier ,Which is why he

Couldn't tell the truth ,or stomach that farce more than one term.

[rhett o rick]

10. He is not a good man. He helped Bush kill hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraq children.

May he rot in hell with the other war criminals.

[orpupilofnature57]

12. Can't argue the facts.

He facilitated the biggest group off Misanthropes in American history ,Constant Flow dick ,and shrub son of kinder gentler satan.

[rhett o rick]

15. We rely on "good men" to save us from the bad men. nm

[seabeyond]

11. he was the one, the one people trusted, that lied us into iraq. nt

[Bucky]

25. Meh. Powell was a significant military leader. As a secretary of state, he dropped the ball

When the time came for him to stand up for the American people's interests, he let himself get first hoodwinked and then used by the neocons.

[truedelphi]

7. Oh, Colin, Colin, Colin, where have you been?

Apparently your life cycle replicates that of Rip Van Winkle, who fell asleep in an orchard and woke up to reality many decades later.

[lib2DaBone]

17. Colin you water boy.. you lied about WMD's and 911.....

.. and your stinkin' kid gutted American media and turned over all radio stations to Clear Channel.

May the Bird of Paradise fly out of your ass and the God of Karma take his revenge.

[lunatica]

19. May all the exploding heads be Republicans who come out swinging

Pass the popcorn please.