Montag
10-22-2008, 03:09 PM
Obama and Powell are Quite Compatible
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=845&Itemid=1
"Obama never considered the war to be a crime"
excerpt:
Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama, and the candidate's effusive praise for Powell in return, demonstrates the ongoing absurdity of describing Obama as the "peace candidate." Obama's eagerness to preserve American empire, either in concert with junior partners or unilaterally, is by now undeniable.
Colin Powell is convinced Obama is just the kind of new face that U.S. imperialism needs. Powell should know. He was once considered to be that new face that would soften world attitudes towards the United States - without, of course, changing the underlying U.S. policy of military and economic aggression in pursuit of permanent American hegemony over the planet. Just as virtually the entire world today looks forward to an Obama presidency, desperately yearning for a new era of American respect for the "opinions of mankind," so was Secretary of State Colin Powell welcomed by the community of nations as an American who respected the rights and aspirations of other peoples. Even after the 9/11 attacks, as the Bush regime prepared for perpetual warfare against anyone and everyone, Colin Powell remained an object of hope, a kind of American exception: a Black man of reason in an otherwise crazy, cowboy administration.
The world gave Powell far too much credit. On February 5, 2003, he betrayed whatever notions of decency that humanity had invested in him. Iraq's President Saddam Hussein, Powell told the United Nations, was in possession of biological and myriad other "weapons of mass destruction," and was working on a nuclear bomb. Of that, Powell "had not doubt."
"Powell betrayed whatever notions of decency that humanity had invested in him."
The United Nations - and all the rest of us watching - understood Powell's presentation as a declaration of war, which came six weeks later. Powell is a central actor in the great crime against international law: waging war against peace. There is no worse category of criminal than that.
Americans are the last people who can claim the right to forgive Powell and his barbarian colleagues for their crimes. Instead, tens of millions of Americans deepen their complicity in the ongoing crime against peace, by honoring criminals like Colin Powell. And, there are huge numbers of Black parents who, despite their personal opposition to the Iraq War, still insist that Colin Powell remains a "role model" for Black youth. This is an abuse of children by infliction of insanity and encouragement of depravity among minors.
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
http://www.blackagendareport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=845&Itemid=1
"Obama never considered the war to be a crime"
excerpt:
Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama, and the candidate's effusive praise for Powell in return, demonstrates the ongoing absurdity of describing Obama as the "peace candidate." Obama's eagerness to preserve American empire, either in concert with junior partners or unilaterally, is by now undeniable.
Colin Powell is convinced Obama is just the kind of new face that U.S. imperialism needs. Powell should know. He was once considered to be that new face that would soften world attitudes towards the United States - without, of course, changing the underlying U.S. policy of military and economic aggression in pursuit of permanent American hegemony over the planet. Just as virtually the entire world today looks forward to an Obama presidency, desperately yearning for a new era of American respect for the "opinions of mankind," so was Secretary of State Colin Powell welcomed by the community of nations as an American who respected the rights and aspirations of other peoples. Even after the 9/11 attacks, as the Bush regime prepared for perpetual warfare against anyone and everyone, Colin Powell remained an object of hope, a kind of American exception: a Black man of reason in an otherwise crazy, cowboy administration.
The world gave Powell far too much credit. On February 5, 2003, he betrayed whatever notions of decency that humanity had invested in him. Iraq's President Saddam Hussein, Powell told the United Nations, was in possession of biological and myriad other "weapons of mass destruction," and was working on a nuclear bomb. Of that, Powell "had not doubt."
"Powell betrayed whatever notions of decency that humanity had invested in him."
The United Nations - and all the rest of us watching - understood Powell's presentation as a declaration of war, which came six weeks later. Powell is a central actor in the great crime against international law: waging war against peace. There is no worse category of criminal than that.
Americans are the last people who can claim the right to forgive Powell and his barbarian colleagues for their crimes. Instead, tens of millions of Americans deepen their complicity in the ongoing crime against peace, by honoring criminals like Colin Powell. And, there are huge numbers of Black parents who, despite their personal opposition to the Iraq War, still insist that Colin Powell remains a "role model" for Black youth. This is an abuse of children by infliction of insanity and encouragement of depravity among minors.