Colin Powell, military leader, first black Secretary of State dies (1 Viewer)

[Smack Tripper]

They were close.  I'm from Canada and the place I worked it at the time had 2 guys from the US.  One was a Dem and one was a Republican.  I used to argue with them constantly during the pre-invasion.  They were both completely dug in (as was most of the US).  I tried pointing out how Israel had Iraq only listed as a moderate threat, and other evidence that went contrary to what Bush was trying to sell the public.  And then when that joke of a UN presentation happened, I pointed out that all Powell really did was point out that some Iraqi's have class 1 licenses and they are allowed to drive around rigs.  This still didn't sway them.

I would think that Powell's presentation would have hurt the cause for going to war, more than help it.  It was pretty much laughed at.

Sounds more like 50 percent than 90 percent.  A number I would not disagree with. 

 

[ren hoek]

90% of the US population was pro-invasion.  This was even before Powell gave his UN speech.  I would have loved to have seen him resign instead of going along.  But he would have been crucified back home and his career would have been over.  Look what happened to other Americans who were denouncing the invasion at the time.

Because the US population was living in a sea of propaganda at the time.  Everyone from the State Dept. to the executive branch to Senator Biden was making the case for war, and the news cycle just uncritically repeated what they said.  People didn't just organically arrive at this conclusion.  In retrospect I really admire the people who had the courage to stand against the tide while everyone else fell in line.  

 

[Chaz McNulty]

Sounds more like 50 percent than 90 percent.  A number I would not disagree with. 

I'm going to just disagree with you on the 50% number.  The pre-invasion was pretty much across the board bi-partisan.  There wasn't much dissent. 

 

[CletiusMaximus]

I agree with most of this, but question your assertion - "He almost certainly could have ended the whole thing himself."  Bush and Cheney were leading the charge on behalf of their constituents on this war and they had plenty of lackeys to back them - Rumsfeld and Rice obviously, among others, and a compliant media.  Powell's fraud of course helped tremendously with the public perception, but I don't think he alone could have stopped this multi-trillion dollar fraud.

Powell was uniquely positioned as a universally respected figure in the Bush admin.  He could have probably blown the whole thing up during his testimony at the UN, or at the very least resigned in protest.  There just wasn’t much pushback at all from people in power at the time- everyone just sort of went along with it.  

There's no way Powell gets to testify at the UN if he's not parroting the company line.  A protest resignation would have been a small blip on the radar if that.  This thing was moving like a freight train with only one destination.  There was way too much money at stake for them to let this one slip.

 

[Smack Tripper]

I'm going to just disagree with you on the 50% number.  The pre-invasion was pretty much across the board bi-partisan.  There wasn't much dissent. 

Invasion of Iraq[edit]

Although pro-war sentiments were very high after 9/11, public opinion stabilized soon after, and slightly in favor of the war. According to a Gallup poll conducted from August 2002 through early March 2003, the number of Americans who favored the war in Iraq fell to between 52 percent to 59 percent, while those who opposed it fluctuated between 35 percent and 43 percent.[10]

Days before the March 20 invasion, a USA Today/CNN/Gallup Poll found support for the war was related to UN approval. Nearly six in 10 said they were ready for such an invasion "in the next week or two." But that support dropped off if the U.N. backing was not first obtained. If the United Nations Security Council were to reject a resolution paving the way for military action, 54% of Americans favored a U.S. invasion. And if the Bush administration did not seek a final Security Council vote, support for a war dropped to 47%.[1]

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_opinion_in_the_United_States_on_the_invasion_of_Iraq