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Powell to Congressman: let’s tango
Under questioning by House Democrats, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday he was surprised U.N. and American inspectors did not find storehouses of hidden weapons in Iraq. But Powell told the International Relations Committee that "we presented what we believed the truth to be at the time." Powell testified that President Saddam Hussein’s apparent intent to develop and use weapons, his record of gassing his own people and his defiance of the United Nations all were — and remain — valid reasons for going to war to overthrow him.
And the violations of the cease-fire, and the pointless wars with Iran and Kuwait, and the mass graves ...
He said President Bush and he had relied on intelligence provided by CIA Director George Tenet, and the only serious question raised about the analysis since the war was whether Iraq had storehouses of weapons of mass destruction. "I don’t think anyone in America should think that President Bush cooked the books," Powell said. "The reason we told you there were stockpiles there was because we believed it to be true," Powell said. "We were surprised when they did not turn up."
The Left never once considers the obvious: if GWB & Co. were lying about WMD, why didn’t they just plant the stuff at a few locations?
But Reps. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., Robert Melendez, D-N.J., Rep. Robert I Wexler, D-Fla., and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, challenged Powell about the administration’s case, suggesting it may have been misleading from the outset. "Truth is the first casualty of war," Ackerman said. "I would contend truth was murdered before a shot was fired."
"I'm repeating these clichès because they make me sound like a profound thinker. I actually know that truth wasn't the first casualty in this war — 3000 civilians in the Twin Towers were. But I'm sure the public's forgotten that by now. Didja see the Superbowl halftime show?"
"We went into this war under false premises," Melendez said. Wexler told Powell he considered him to be "the credible voice in the administration."
"Not being very bright, I continue to buy the assertion that you're the guy to go to for wimpy internationalism instead of decisive action."
"When you reached the conclusion that Iraq represented a clear and present danger to the United States, that meant a lot to me," Wexler said.
"I shall treasure it always, unless it's to my political advantage to forget it."
"But the facts suggest there was a part of the story that was not true."
No, silly, that part was incorrect. There’s a difference.
Powell fielded the assertions calmly, defending the president’s judgment and his own.
Here it comes:
But when Brown contrasted Powell’s military experience to Bush’s record with the National Guard, saying the president "may have been AWOL" from duty, Powell exploded. "First of all, Mr. Brown, I won’t dignify your comments about the president because you don’t know what you are talking about," Powell snapped.
"Lookee here, asshole..."
"I’m sorry I don’t know what you mean, Mr. Secretary," Brown replied.
Oh yes you do.
"You made reference to the president," Powell shot back. Brown then repeated his understanding that Bush may have been AWOL from guard duty.
Rat bastard.
"Mr. Brown, let’s not go there," Powell retorted. "Let’s not go there in this hearing. If you want to have a political fight on this matter, that is very controversial, and I think it is being dealt with by the White House, fine, but let’s not go there."
Donald Sensing wrote in his blog, "I just saw the video of this episode on cable news, and it was very evident that Powell was one step away from rolling his sleeves up and inviting Brown to step outside. The Congressmen retreated quick."
I would have paid to see Powell fly over that table at the Congressman.
Posted by: Steve White 2004-02-12
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=26077