Colin Powell and Mai Lai

[oldscratch]

What was his involvement with it? I'm fuzzy.

[Arnold Winkelried]

I read in an article once (from a biased source) that he was supposed to investigate accusations of US crimes in the case of the My Lai massacre but didn't to a very good job.

I found a website that has some more details (I don't vouch for the accuracy of any of the information presented here).
COLIN POWELL'S SECRET ROLE IN MY LAI MASSACRE (http://www.overthrow.com/powell_massacre.html)

[jcgmoi]

See this GD thread. (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=51351)

[obfusciatrist]

Well, my understanding is that there is no claim that he was directly involved in the My Lai massacre (oldscratch: you are getting closer on the name, much better than when you called it Mai Tai in chat).

Colin Powell was at one point asked to investigate the claim of a specific soldier concerning the massacre. I do not remember names but here is where you either go with appearances or conspiracy theorists.

Either Colin Powell did not do a very thorough job of investigating those claims (in the best light) and was just working from a starting point that it sounded ludicrous or he was an active participant in a military-wide cover-up of the massacre (in the worst light) and "investigated" with the intention of finding nothing.

[cheezit]

It seems to me that whether Powell investigated or not, or if he did, whether he did a good job or not, is really rather immaterial at this point in time. To hold him responsible for not investigating at this late date would be a lot like punishing a 50 year old man for breaking the neighbors window when he was a lad of 10. Besides that, in Vietnam he was probably a 2nd Lt. or maybe a 1st Lt. He retired as a 4 star General. (I think.) If he had not done his job well all those years, it is doubtful that he would have ever been promoted through the ranks like he was.

My 2 cents for whatever it's worth.

[Arnold Winkelried]

obfusciatrist, the names may be found at the link I posted above.

Powell arrived in Chu Lai in June, ten weeks after soldiers of the Americal Division, under the command of Lieutenant William Calley, massacred innocent Vietnamese civilians at the village of My Lai. Top-ranking officers of the Americal Division engaged in massive cover-up, and it was only due to the efforts of an idealistic young soldier, Ron Ridenhour, who described the massacre in a letter to this congressman, that the lid was blown off the story. But Ridenhour’s letter was not the first effort to foil the coverup. Specialist Fourth Class Tom Glen served in the 11th Light Infantry Brigade, called the “Butcher Brigade”, the same outfit as Lt Calley. Glen has heard rumors of a massacre, and he wrote a letter to General Creighton Abrams, supreme commander of US forces in Vietnam.

In early December of ‘68, Glen’s letter came to the attention of Powell, at Division headquarters in Chu Lai. He was ordered to check into the allegations and prepare a response.

Powell did not investigate the allegations. Instead, he went to Glen’s commander -- hardly a likely source of truth, considering the nature of the allegations. In his report to this superior, Powell denied that anything other than some “isolated incidents” had occurred, and claimed that all such abuses were punished. “In direct refutation of [Glen’s] portrayal is the fact that the relations between Americal soldiers and Vietnamese people are excellent.,” wrote Powell.

Powell wondered why Glen had not come forward earlier, and noted the lack of specifics in the allegations. The main point, however, is the Powell did not ask Glen for any specifics. He merely accepted the unit commander’s word, and the phony “investigation” went no further than that. Glen eventually received a letter, signed by a general at Americal headquarters, that recounted Powell’s one-sided rendition of the facts -- and the My Lai cover up continued until Ridenhour blew the whistle.

[obfusciatrist]

Thanks Arnold. I started composing my post before you responded and then went to a meeting. I didn't preview to see what had happened before finishing it up at the meeting.

Cheezit, it isn't mentioned in the snippet that Arnold posted, but Powell was a major at that time. Certainly old enough and senior enough to know right from wrong.

But the fact that there was a cover up of My Lai (there was) and the fact that Powell made a half-hearted investigation into My Lai (he did) does not necessarily mean that Powell was part of the cover-up.

[stofsky]

Originally posted by cheezit
To hold him responsible for not investigating at this late date would be a lot like punishing a 50 year old man for breaking the neighbors window when he was a lad of 10.

Great analogy. Covering up a massacre and a war crime is equivalent to breaking a window. Be sure to let the Holocaust victims know that they've been overreacting.