Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Colin Powell: Terrorists are not greatest threat to nation

In an interview with GQ magazine that's online here , former secretary of State and one-time potential presidential candidate Colin Powell has this to say about terrorism and the threat it poses to the USA:

"What is the greatest threat facing us now? People will say it's terrorism. But are there any terrorists in the world who can change the American way of life or our political system? No. Can they knock down a building? Yes. Can they kill somebody? Yes. But can they change us? No. Only we can change ourselves. So what is the great threat we are facing?"

Powell adds, in an interview with Walter Isaacson, that to improve its image in the world, the USA should focus on welcoming newcomers. He takes on the immigration debate that has become a hot-button issue in the presidential race:

"America could not survive without immigration," he says. "Even the undocumented immigrants are contributing to our economy. That's the country my parents came to. That's the image we have to portray to the rest of the world: kind, generous, a nation of nations, touched by every nation, and we touch every nation in return. That's what people still want to believe about us. They still want to come here. We've lost a bit of the image, but we haven't lost the reality yet. And we can fix the image by reflecting a welcoming attitude -- and by not taking counsel of our fears and scaring ourselves to death that everybody coming in is going to blow up something. It ain't the case."

As for the Iraq War, Powell -- a retired general and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- tells Isaacson that as he and others in the Bush administration debated strategy in the lead-up to the war, he did not think the Pentagon and then-secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had planned for what would happen after Baghdad fell.

"That was the big mistake. Don had written a list of the worst things that could happen, but we didn't do the contingency planning on what we would do about it. So we watched those buildings get burned down, and nobody told the divisions, 'Hey, go in there and declare martial law and whack a few people and it will stop.' Then the insurgency started, and we didn't acknowledge it. They said it wasn't an insurgency. They looked up the definition. They said it was a few dead-enders! And so we didn't respond in a way that might have stopped it. And then the civil war started at the beginning of last year. I call it a civil war, but some say no, it's not a civil war, it's a war against civilians. In fact, we have total civil disorder."

30 comments:

Shoes4Industry said...

Interesting that this post has garnered few comments...

H Nicole Young said...

I was sort of waiting for midnight, New York time.

This is an excellent article, Shoes, and the most appropriate to launch in looking forward beyond 9/11.

I had forgotten about Colin Powell, and in a related way, had forgotten how important hope is.

Now both are back in my life as it occurred to me that this guy is probably going to be an important part of America's future regardless of who the next president is, Republican or Democrat or Woman or Black.

LifeBeginsAt200MPH said...

The greatest threat to this nation is people who have no sense of history and allow their senses of feelings to guide them instead of cold HARD facts.

If it wasn't for me, this website would be nothing but wasted bandwidth.

I've been over EVERYTHING you've ever brought up on this site for the last 6 years. You're nothing but a late to the race wannabe Shoes. That's what irritates you so much. NOTHING you've ever posted on this site is new news to anyone who has any intelligence.

There are a FEW people like HNIC, who actually are not afraid to show their innocence in lack of knowledge, but, at the same time also show their willingness to be guided by someone "who is smarter than they are"...."Rosie said so, so it must be true."

I told ya' before, and you know it....I got your number buddy boy....

And the sad part is....just like my G-dad who taught me the old "pull my finger" trick, you'll never get it, but I did...after I learned what lessons history had to teach me.

I'll come to this website because I love making wimps stew in their own juices. You can't stop me. I do so many other things, that it would scare you to death to realize who your nemesis is.

Why do I continue to come here?.?.?.?

Because I first heard about this site off RO....and RO is a fat stupid lesbo freakin', perverted, drug taking twt......and that's not name calling..those are her words...

and my Kung-Fu is strong......

PMF.....

...and my invitation still stands...BBQ with real good dead Black Angus beef and home grown veggies...all ya' gotta' do is R.V.S.P.

From the Heart Of America....where we drive tractors...

LifeBeginsAt200MPH said...

OH!!...BTW....

"Interesting that this post has garnered few comments"

No, it's not...nobody comes to this SOB but me and maybe 4 other people who have nothing else to do...I only come here because I can push your buttons so easily and you have nobody else to respond to and release your frustrations on.

Kinda' like MS' blogs....what you got 5 or 6 of them? LOTS of traffic....shows how popular you are....ppfffttt

Between all my responses here, I'm in 100 other places.....you are but a fart in the wind that entertains me in my spare time....

H Nicole Young said...

Sometimes, Life, I have to wonder if you are a Troll who is trying to torpedo conservatives.

LifeBeginsAt200MPH said...

You got more brains than that...trust me..

LifeBeginsAt200MPH said...

and I got your point..nada...wrongo

moneysmith said...

Funny, someone forgot to mention that I've written a number of books, including a bestseller with a major publisher, and won quite a few journalism honors.

But that's what happens when you're so out of touch with reality that you think things are going well in Iraq. Or in this country:
http://tinyurl.com/2j85n5

LifeBeginsAt200MPH said...

And I see all the people who made you a "best seller" are here...

moneysmith said...

Wow, I didn't know there were more than 10,000 readers here, because that's what it takes in terms of book SALES to make a bestseller. But that's the kind of little detail you wouldn't pick up at the fertilizer store.

moneysmith said...

Looky here, Bush. Someone knows how to quickly ahd humanely end the insane war in Iraq.

From Obama's speech today:

http://tinyurl.com/2t4feu

LifeBeginsAt200MPH said...

10,000??? ewww...hate to pop your bubble, but that hardly qualifies as best seller status...one of those little details we learn down at the "fertilizer store".

LifeBeginsAt200MPH said...

And Obama is just another surrender monkey from the left wing. He cannot be POTUS. Any one who believes that is a mental asylum candidate.

LifeBeginsAt200MPH said...

and speaking of mental asylum material....

http://tinyurl.com/ytvyez

ignorant cow full of herself and "fertilizer"...

moneysmith said...

On top of everything else, you're an expert in publishing, too?

If so, you should know that according to industry standards, 10K is the minimum for "bestseller" status -- we sold far more, in addition to being interviewed on Good Morning, America, New York Times, Men's Journal, etc., etc.

Go ahead, take your cheap shot. Nobody cares what you think anyway.

Shoes4Industry said...

"“Celebrity Detox” — a brave little book by a brave woman, I think. Bravo!"

Good for her.

moneysmith said...

Is the "war" in Iraq is making us safer? The answer, in Petraeus' own words:

http://tinyurl.com/2ydztv

LifeBeginsAt200MPH said...

LMAO!!

H Nicole Young said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
H Nicole Young said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
H Nicole Young said...

Good link to Obama, Money (http://tinyurl.com/2t4feu). The plan sounds a lot more reasonable than anything I've heard from Bush, and I suspect it has the hand of Colin Powell in it.

As for your link, Life (http://tinyurl.com/ytvyez), was it supposed to be a hit piece on Rosie or her book?

Roger Friedman writes...

“Celebrity Detox” — a brave little book by a brave woman, I think. Bravo!

There are hints that Rosie is trying to reveal that she had been molested as a child, which I agree is disappointing, not only because you just hate to hear this kind of news about anybody, but because you begin to wonder, given similar revelations by so many other celebrities, if abuse is a prerequisite for the kind of drive and persistence it takes to become famous.

At least there are also hints of sanity, or attempted sanity, in the book:

“As I slipped back into celebrity land,” Rosie writes of her return to daytime TV, “the tasks multiplied a thousandfold, and the letters addressed to me but having nothing to do with the real me — the mother me, the married me, the friend me — the letters addressed to the celebrity me began to pour in again. … I had gone four years living alone and now my mailbox was overflowing and people were telling me I was fantastic, the funniest, the happiest, the brightest. ...

“How best to explain this? It is a shift that happens in the head and that very few celebrities will ever really speak about. … One begins to believe in the specialness, and a dangerous sense of entitlement takes over. … When celebrity addiction starts, you become impatient with, and even angry at necessary obstacles. You think could run a red light or two. And then you do.”

Anonymous said...

Obama's a "surrender monkey"? Nice racist slur.

Anyway, Iraq is so over. Bush and his Dick just don't know it yet.

http://tinyurl.com/34ma2l

LifeBeginsAt200MPH said...

surrender monkey has nothing to do with his race dipwad....you would be the racist for even considering it...

Reid Pelosi Murtha Clinton Schumer and many more are also surrender monkeys.

...as opposed to us "chickenhawks".

LifeBeginsAt200MPH said...

A ambulance chasing lawyer has the "answer" to Iraq...yeah, right. Them $400 haircuts have improved his thought process.

moneysmith said...

Ah, but an "ass-kissing little chickenshit," which is how Admiral William Fallon, chief of the Central Command (CENTCOM), described Petraeus -- he's the perfect man for the job? Give us all a break!

http://tinyurl.com/yowcpx

H Nicole Young said...

The Senate needs sixty votes to finally begin to get the war out of the hands of President Merkin Muffley. So what's the problem here? There are already 50 Democrats, none of which I can imagine not voting to bring the troops home immediately at this point, unless they want to commit political suicide.

As for the two Independents:

The one pro-war Independent in the senate:

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman (ID- CT)
Phone: 202-224-4041
Fax: 202-224-9750
Webmail: http://lieberman.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm?regarding=issue

needs to go and probably will at his next election anyway, that is, if he doesn't manage to buy his seat again with all the money he is making on the war.

(BTW, lest I be labeled an anti-semetic just for bashing Lieberman, I am bashing Feinstein with the exact same accusations, and she is Catholic).

According to his web site, at least Independent Senator Bernie Sanders is decidely in the "Bring the Troops Home Now" camp:

Senator Bernie Sanders (I- VT) Phone: 202-224-5141
Fax: 202-228-0776
Webmail: http://www.sanders.senate.gov/comments/

So in effect nine Republican senators is all that is needed, for now at least. Again, I am still not sure what the big problem is of "getting votes."

In my research so far, there doesn't seem to be a "Democrats vs Republicans" fight going on about the war so much as a "small handful of pro-war congresspeople who most likely have strong financial ties to the war and are backing Bush vs. the rest of Congress."

In searches for nine Republican senators who may be leaning anti-war, I don't think I have found nine Republican senators that are strongly pro-war, at least not publicly. In fact, I am hoping to publish the small list of strong pro-Bush war supporters soon, along with their possible monetary connections to the war, of course.

Included on the list may be a few "red-flag" Republicans who are obviously voting against the especially strong will of their state legislatures and their constituents with regard to the war. The two senators from New Hampshire come to mind in this case:

Senator Judd Gregg (R- NH)
Phone: 202-224-3324
Fax: 202-224-4952
Webmail: http://gregg.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.cfm

Senator John Sununu (R- NH)
Phone: 202-224-2841
Fax: 202-228-4131
E-mail:
mailbox@sununu.senate.gov

At the other end of the spectrum,
there are a few obvious, and particularly powerful, Republican senators in the news that are openly critical of Bush's policy on the war, not the least of which are:

Senator John W. Warner (R- VA) Phone: 202-224-2023
Fax: 202-224-6295
Webmail: http://warner.senate.gov/contact/contactme.htm

Senator Arlen Specter (R- PA)
Phone: 202-224-4254
Fax: 202-228-1229
Webmail: http://specter.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Senator Chuck Hagel (R- NE)
Phone: 202-224-4224
Fax: 202-224-5213
Webmail: http://hagel.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Here are at least eight others (a couple more than is needed) that are either decidely anti-war/anti-Bush or are leaning anti-war/anti-Bush according to news articles or their web sites. As an example, Senator Lemar Alexander from Tennesse writes on his web site:

"General Petraeus’ recommendations will take us in a new direction because the troops will be coming out instead of going in, though they will come out more slowly than I had hoped."

Sounds to me like Senator Alexander is open for debate on bringing the troops home sooner than recommended. Good for him. He is actually one of the "milder" anti-war Republican senators listed below (in semi-alphabetical order of the states they are from):

Senator Ken Salazar (D- CO)
Phone: 202-224-5852
Fax: 202-228-5036
Webmail: http://salazar.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm

Senator Richard G. Lugar (R- IN)
Phone: 202-224-4814
Fax: 202-228-0360
E-mail: senator_lugar@lugar.senate.gov

Senator Olympia Snowe (R- ME)
Phone: 202-224-5344
Fax: 202-224-1946
Webmail: http://snowe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactSenatorSnowe.Email

Senator Susan Collins (R- ME)
Phone: 202-224-2523
Fax: 202-224-2693
Webmail: http://collins.senate.gov/public/continue.cfm?FuseAction=ContactSenatorCollins.Email&CFID=31278970&CFTOKEN=44699849

Senator Norm Coleman (R- MN)
Phone: 202-224-5641
Fax: 202-224-1152
Webmail: http://coleman.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Senator Elizabeth Dole (R- NC)
Phone: 202-224-6342
Fax: 202-224-1100
Webmail: http://dole.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInformation.ContactForm

Senator Gordon Smith (R- OR)
Phone: 202-224-3753
Fax: 202-228-3997
Webmail: http://gsmith.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Senator Lamar Alexander (R- TN) Phone: 202-224-4944
Fax: 202-228-3398
Webmail: http://alexander.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

As a final note, there is an interesting list of Republican senators who chose not to take a stand on the war in their web site statements, but instead chose to attack MoveOn.org's New York Times advertisement questioning the facts as presented by General Petraeus.

I thought this was an interesting, if not somewhat elusive and weak, strategy by these senators.

Although these senators ran and hid behind Petraeus' fancy uniform with lots of stars on it, with a few exceptions, many of the 25 or so Republican senators that signed an official petition on the MoveOn.org matter did not come right out and say they fully supported Petraeus' recommnedations either.

I suspect a large number of these Republican senators may be "open for discussion" about a change in Iraqi strategy as well.

H Nicole Young said...

PS -- the web site that gives all the contact information (phone, fax, and webmail) on each congressperson according to state is:

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

moneysmith said...

Excellent, h nic, thank you!! I'm sure some of the Repugs can be swayed. Gordon Smith (OR) went public against the war a few months ago, as a "moral" issue, if I remember correctly. Hagel is definitely opposed, and I think Olympia Snowe might be, as well. But what are we going to do about DiFi? She seems to be a lost cause...

H Nicole Young said...

A recent online news video of DiFi showed her starting to come around a little, maybe. She looked a little haggard and beat-up (LOL -- as she should, I say) and when she started in on how wonderful General Petraeus was, I almost gave up.

However, almost as if somebody were screaming in her ears on her earpiece to wake up, she just finally came alive at one point and suddenly seemed to shift gears and made it clear that, as wonderful as Petraeus was, she wasn't buying it.

I'll see if I can find the clip. It was one of the few times I've actually watched her talk, so maybe this is how she always does it. We'll see. I'm certainly watching her like a hawk now, that's for sure.

H Nicole Young said...

The following list of 23 Republican senators is from a larger list of 31 senators (30 Republicans and Lieberman) that signed a petition repudiating MoveOn.Org's ad in the New York Times that apparently called General Petraeus "General Betray-us" (which I am only getting now, LOL).

It is becoming clear to me what happened with this petition, which was put forth as a "bipartisan" petition of 31 senators because they were counting Lieberman as an Independent, which is a joke.

Anyway, Senators Lindsey, Lieberman, and McCain:

Senator Lindsey Graham (R- SC) Phone: 202-224-5972
Fax: 202-224-3808
Webmail: http://lgraham.senate.gov/index.cfm?mode=contactform

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman (ID- CT)
Phone: 202-224-4041
Fax: 202-224-9750
Webmail: http://lieberman.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm?regarding=issue

Senator John McCain (R- AZ)
Phone: 202-224-2235
Fax: 202-228-2862
Webmail: http://mccain.senate.gov//contact/index.cfm?ID=64

our three big pro-war senators who also (I'm shocked!) probably have the biggest financial ties to the war, wanted to make it appear that they had a bunch of support for their highly unpopular pro-Bush position on the war, so they set up this harmless petition that on the surface appears to be pro-war, when in fact it's just basically saying, "We like apple pie and feel very strongly about it."

So a bunch of Republican Senators jump on board, and although a handful of them are pretty strong Bush/war supporters (listed at the very bottom), a majority of them, 23 listed below, are at best luke-warm on the war and many probably signed the petition in relief of having something strong yet harmless and non-binding to say about the Iraqi war issue.

My guess is the following Republican senators are open to debate about bringing the troops home sooner than recommended by Petraeus, and that their positions on the war might be highly influenced by constituents and others sending them their opinions (in alphabetical order according to state).

Senator Jeff Sessions (R- AL)
Phone: 202-224-4124
Fax: 202-224-3149
Webmail:
http://sessions.senate.gov/email/contact.cfm

Senator Wayne Allard (R- CO)
Phone: 202-224-5941
Fax: 202-224-6471
Webmail:
http://allard.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Senator Mel Martinez (R- FL)
Phone: 202-224-3041
Fax: 202-228-5171
Webmail:
http://martinez.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInformation.ContactForm

Senator Johnny Isakson (R- GA) Phone: 202-224-3643
Fax: 202-228-0724
Webmail:
http://isakson.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Senator Charles E. Grassley (R- IA)
Phone: 202-224-3744
Fax: 202-224-6020
Webmail: http://grassley.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Senator Pat Roberts (R- KS)
Phone: 202-224-4774
Fax: 202-224-3514 http://roberts.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInformation.EmailPat

Senator Sam Brownback (R- KS)
Phone: 202-224-6521
Fax: 202-228-1265
Webmail:
http://brownback.senate.gov/CMEmailMe.cfm

Senator Olympia Snowe (R- ME)
Phone: 202-224-5344
Fax: 202-224-1946
Webmail: http://snowe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactSenatorSnowe.Email

Senator Susan Collins (R- ME)
Phone: 202-224-2523
Fax: 202-224-2693
Webmail:
http://collins.senate.gov/public/continue.cfm?FuseAction=ContactSenatorCollins.Email&CFID=31278970&CFTOKEN=44699849

Senator Norm Coleman (R- MN)
Phone: 202-224-5641
Fax: 202-224-1152
Webmail:
http://coleman.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Senator Kit Bond (R- MO)
Phone: 202-224-5721
Fax: 202-224-8149
Webmail: http://bond.senate.gov/contact/contactme.cfm

Senator John Ensign (R- NV)
Phone: 202-224-6244
Fax: 202-228-2193
Webmail: http://ensign.senate.gov/forms/email_form.cfm

Senator Judd Gregg (R- NH)
Phone: 202-224-3324
Fax: 202-224-4952
Webmail:
http://gregg.senate.gov/sitepages/contact.cfm

Senator John Sununu (R- NH)
Phone: 202-224-2841
Fax: 202-228-4131
E-mail:
mailbox@sununu.senate.gov

Senator Richard Burr (R- NC)
Phone: 202-224-3154
Fax: 202-228-2981
Webmail:
http://burr.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Senator Elizabeth Dole (R- NC) Phone: 202-224-6342
Fax: 202-224-1100
Webmail: http://dole.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInformation.ContactForm

Senator James DeMint (R- SC)
Phone: 202-224-6121
Fax: 202-228-5143
Webmail: http://demint.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Senator Lamar Alexander (R- TN) Phone: 202-224-4944
Fax: 202-228-3398
Webmail:
http://alexander.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

Senator Bob Corker (R- TN)
Phone: 202-224-3344
Fax: 202-228-0566
Webmail:
http://corker.senate.gov/Contact/index.cfm

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R- TX)
Phone: 202-224-5922
Fax: 202-224-0776
Webmail:
http://hutchison.senate.gov/contact.html

Senator John Cornyn (R- TX) 202-224-2934 202-228-2856 http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.ContactForm

Senator John W. Warner (R- VA)
Phone: 202-224-2023
Fax: 202-224-6295
Webmail: http://warner.senate.gov/contact/contactme.htm

Senator John A. Barrasso (R- WY) Phone: 202-224-6441
Fax: 202-224-1724
Webmail:
Senator_JBarrasso@barrasso.senate.gov

The remaining 5 senators who signed the petition appear to be strong Bush/war supporters, though some of these even admit that they are not happy with the political situation in Iraq. One of them (Vitter) is probably on his way out anyway because of a hypocritical sex scandal:

Senator Jon Kyl (R- AZ)
Phone: 202-224-4521
Fax: 202-224-2207
Webmail:
http://kyl.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Senator Saxby Chambliss (R- GA)
Phone: 202-224-3521
Fax: 202-224-0103
Webmail: http://chambliss.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactUs.ContactForm&CFID=51026269&CFTOKEN=46757234

Senator David Vitter (R- LA)
Phone: 202-224-4623
Fax: 202-228-5061
Webmail: http://vitter.senate.gov/?module=webformIQV1

Senator Pete V. Domenici (R- NM)
Phone: 202-224-6621
Fax: 202-228-3261
Webmail: http://domenici.senate.gov/contact/contactform.cfm

Senator Michael Enzi (R- WY)
Phone: 202-224-3424
Fax: 202-228-0359
Webmail: http://enzi.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInformation.EmailSenatorEnzi