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Powell Bitchslaps "Hero of Chappaquidick"
US Secretary of State Colin Powell rebuked a leading Democratic senator for comparing the war in Iraq to Vietnam and suggesting President George W. Bushâs policies had incited hatred against the United States. In a rare foray into politics, Powell said Senator Ted Kennedy, an outspoken Bush opponent and supporter of Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry, should be "more restrained and careful" when discussing Iraq and the war on terrorism. At the same time, Powell also stressed that American democracy was enhanced by debate and admitted that he had not seen all of the Monday speech in which Kennedy made the comments. "I was in Haiti and didnât see the whole speech, but I must say that Senator Kennedy, I think, should be a little more restrained and careful in his comments because we are at war," Powell said in an interview on a nationally syndicated radio broadcast. "Never go on the record when youâre drunk, stupid, and full of hate - lesson #1" "Debate is appropriate, and thatâs the beauty of our open, democratic system, but I think this is also the time that we rally the nation behind the challenge that we face in Iraq and Afghanistan and other places in the world," he said on the "Tony Snow Program." In the speech, Kennedy likened the Iraq invasion and occupation to the 1961-75 campaign in Vietnam, which claimed the lives of 58,000 US soldiers and an estimated three million Vietnamese. "Iraq is George Bushâs Vietnam, and this country needs a new president," Kennedy said, adding that by going to war, the United States had angered key US allies, made America "more hated in the world" and complicated the war on terrorism. The Kennedy speech has infuriated Bushâs Republican camp, which has accused Kennedy of using the most desperate of election year politics. Posted by: Frank G 2004-04-06 |
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