And he seemed like such a NICE man...

The UnCapitalist Journal - Did you celebrate Colin Powell Day?

Tuesday was the fifth anniversary of Colin Powell's speech to the United Nations Security Council to push for war with Iraq. Powell's speech, as we now know, was full of lies. His speech was entitled: Iraq, Failing to Disarm. He even had a nifty slide show for the attendees. Behind him sat George Tenet, then head of the CIA. No one fact-checked Powell, no one bothered to ask questions. It was accepted as fact by pretty much everyone. Bush had been beating the war drums for quite some time prior to Powell's speech and the MSM fell right in line. The MSM did their job by selling us the war, and they did it very well.

Robert Parry of Consortium news:

Five years ago, Secretary of State Colin Powell exploited his reputation for honesty and integrity to sell the American people on the necessity of the Iraq War. The day after Powell's United Nations testimony on Feb. 5, 2003, whatever skepticism remained in the U.S. news media evaporated. Anyone who still questioned the case for invading Iraq was dismissed as a fool, a traitor or - as Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen wrote - "a Frenchman."

The consequences of this group think have been devastating for the United States. Nearly 4,000 U.S. troops are dead; tens of thousands have been maimed; and much of the world blames America for the carnage in Iraq, where estimates of the death toll range from 150,000 to more than one million. Yet many Americans still shake their heads over the seeming mystery of why the widely respected Colin Powell would have joined in this national disgrace.

The answer to that question can be found in Chapter 8 of the book Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush. The chapter is a brief biography of the real Colin Powell, from his days as a young Army officer in Vietnam to his rapid rise during the presidencies of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush to his iconic status by the time of his appearance before the United Nations. Throughout his career, the chapter reveals, Colin Powell was a rank opportunist, albeit one with great charisma and undisputed intelligence. This is an important reality for Americans to know - indeed it is history that they must know.

This was how Powell concluded his speech:

We know that Saddam Hussein is determined to keep his weapons of mass destruction; he's determined to make more. Given Saddam Hussein's history of aggression, given what we know of his grandiose plans, given what we know of his terrorist associations and given his determination to exact revenge on those who oppose him, should we take the risk that he will not some day use these weapons at a time and the place and in the manner of his choosing at a time when the world is in a much weaker position to respond?

The United States will not and cannot run that risk to the American people. Leaving Saddam Hussein in possession of weapons of mass destruction for a few more months or years is not an option, not in a post-September 11th world.

It all sounds depressingly familiar, doesn't it?