Colin Powell’s controversial claim (made to Truthdig Editor Robert Scheer) that he never believed that Iraq posed an imminent nuclear threat has renewed the debate about Powell’s culpability in the Iraq debacle. Check out Vanity Fair’s Chris Hitchens and Newsweek’s Evan Thomas discussing the issue on “Hardball” or read Jane Hamsher’s take at Firedoglake.


Crooks and Liars’ Hardball Video Clip:

Christopher who is not one to mince words even surprised Chris Matthews today. Fresh off of Robert Sheer’s new article in which Colin Powell proclaims that Iraq never posed a serious nuclear threat-Hitchens responds to Evan Thomas’ defense of Powell.

Thomas: He (Powell) wasn’t against the war. He was against doing the war right then. If you talk to Richard Armitage-his aid, they were ready to go to war-they just didn’t want to do it that year…

Hitchens: his aid (garbled)…his bitch you mean.

Matthews: His what?

Hitchens: His bitch, why aren’t you, why are you calling Colin Powell a good soldier…

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Jame Hamsher:

Everyone in the administration knew as of January, 2003 that the claim was hogwash. George Bush knew the truth when he authorized Scooter Libby to leak classified information to mislead Judy Miller into believing it was true. It took Joe Wilson’s editorial to force George Tenet to finally admit, on July 11, that the eleven words should never have been included in Bush’s speech.

I can’t believe I’m sitting here defending Dick Cheney but Colin Powell’s attempts to portray himself as some sort of truth teller, and George Bush as having been mislead, are extremely disingenuous. Powell needs to be telling us why he didn’t have the courage to say what needed to be said, what Joe Wilson finally did.

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