# Colin Powell called prewar intelligence reports "Bullshit." **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 2, 2003, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069 "2003-06-02T04:35:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/61 "2003-06-02T18:57:43Z")
Maybe I should stay out of this thread, but the more I read and the more I hear, the worse it gets. I like the U.S. There was a time, when I was younger, when I tried to get a green card. I have American friends, one, who’s very close and with whom I’ve sustained a friendship for 20 years across the Atlantic, has served in the armed forces. I love American movies, TV, literature, music, theatre and art. There is no place in the world (I’ve been to some 40-odd countries), where people have been so hospitable as they the way I’ve been treated on my numerous visits to the U.S. I have no hate or dislike for America ocr the American people. There are things I frown at (death sentence), but there are things I frown at in my own country. However, the actions by the Bush administration since last summer has left me… afraid is maybe too strong a word… anxious, I suppose. The Berlin wall came down, the communist block fell, China is going capitalist, which will eventually m,ake the people there free. The 90’s were good. Now I have a feeling that we’re getting closer to the edge again. The Bush Administration is acting like a school yard bully. And just because there isn’t a bigger kid on the school yard, doesn’t make the big bully invincible. Yes, getting rid of Saddam Hussein was good , I guess, but it happened for the wrong reasons (BTW, where is he?). But why isn’t Bush et al interested in fabricating evidence about Myanmar or Tibet (wait, that’s China) or Malaysia. Bad regimes and people suffering can be found a lot closer - how about Cuba? In large parts of South America, people a living in fear from the regime. I don’t know, and I don’t have an answer. I just feel sick. I never really believed in the WMD, but now it seems it was all a lie. You guys, who defend Bush, and thing the war was a good thing, do you feel that the loss of American lives was worth it, for a pack of lies? ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/62 "2003-06-02T18:59:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > “He was fully investigated by the Senate and he was exonerated. Why can’t you dems just let this go?” Same reason some of them (Republicans) can’t let go of Clinton’s personal life in office;) ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/63 "2003-06-02T19:02:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Gaspode \* > Yes, getting rid of Saddam Hussein was good , I guess, but it happened for the wrong reasons (BTW, where is he?). Probably shouldn’t ask anyone in the current administration that unless you _didn’t_ get tired of hearing “we have credible information that he may be dead, or that he is not dead, or that he may be alive, or that he might not be alive, or that he is currently starring in, and producing, an off-Broadway play, or that he is not currently at least producing that play…”😉 ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/64 "2003-06-02T19:11:36Z")
“I hear Saddam signed with the William Morris agency, and was never heard from again!” \ ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/65 "2003-06-02T19:17:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mtgman \* > Suprised no one has seen this [Senate Inquiry into WoMD claims](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/06/02/uweap.xml&sSheet=/portal/2003/06/02/ixportaltop.html). Seems they intend to research the quality of the evidence the Administration had as well as the manner this evidence was presented to the people. > > Not a lot of faith in this investigation quite frankly, but who knows. > [@](#): > > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=188036](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=188036) > > An internal investigation into the Justice Department’s detentions of hundreds of people after September 11, 2001, for suspected immigration violations found significant problems in how the cases were handled \ While not disputing the report’s conclusions, department officials made no apologies for their aggressive approach to protecting U.S. citizens from the threat of additional terrorist attacks after September 11. In other words: fuck the world. Being the “Justice” Department means never having to say you’re sorry. So, why do they commission investigations and reports if they just ignore them? ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/66 "2003-06-02T19:18:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wring \* > what’s most disgusting is - where’s the outrage? the protests? The populace is too busy watcing _American Idol II_ on Fox to care. (“What’s that? The FCC approved the motion to let major conglomerates own even more media outlets in a market? Eh, it can’t be important, Fox News isn’t saying much about it…”) ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/67 "2003-06-02T19:20:53Z")
The official line on Saddam is that “our goal was to remove him from power, and we acheived that goal. whether he is alive or dead is of no consequence…now let’s talk about something else.” ---
**Author:** ![elf6c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c57346/32.png) [@elf6c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elf6c)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/68 "2003-06-02T19:33:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mtgman \* > \*\*Suprised no one has seen this [Senate Inquiry into WoMD claims](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/06/02/uweap.xml&sSheet=/portal/2003/06/02/ixportaltop.html). Seems they intend to research the quality of the evidence the Administration had as well as the manner this evidence was presented to the people. > > Not a lot of faith in this investigation quite frankly, but who knows. > > Enjoy, > Steven \*\* Brought to you by the same people investiging the admistration’s intelligence failures regarding 9/11. Expect the same cover-up/whitewash. Surpising how much was classified- even publicly released documents. The current admistration seems to think that by repeating the same spin over and over that eventually it will become true. i.e. that’s our story, and we are sticking to it. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/69 "2003-06-02T19:37:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*[William Safire in The New York Times says all the lies were justified because they were for a good cause](http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/06/02/nyt.nyt.safire/index.html) :rolleyes: \*\* Darn Liberal media—wait a min… ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/70 "2003-06-02T19:47:22Z")
OK, this is some serious fucked up stuff ya’ll. I almost _wish_ a Defender would post something assuring, just so my brain can entertain the idea that maybe it isn’t as fucked up as it seems. But even the Defenders have run out of assuring things to say. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/71 "2003-06-02T21:01:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Sen John Warner, the Republican chairman of the Senate’s armed services committee, said: “People are challenging the credibility of the use of this intelligence, and particularly its use by the President, the secretaries of state and defence, the CIA director and others.” > > The investigation will examine how the information was passed on to policy-makers “who then extrapolated what they wanted and put the emphasis on certain parts,” he told USA Today. Warner’s solidly conservative, but he’s never been a ‘movement’ conservative, so to speak; he’s not in anyone’s hip pocket. The folks who make up the current GOP mainstream haven’t trusted him since he voted against Bork, bless his heart, and they keep on trying to replace him with a ‘real’ (read ‘knee-jerk’) conservative. So this investigation could actually be quite lively. Still, I’m waiting for an investigation of the war plan - the one that didn’t leave any troops for securing prospective WMD sites on the way to Baghdad, so the troops just drove right by them and let them be looted to the ground before our guys could inspect them. Because that’s the smoking gun. ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/72 "2003-06-02T21:19:22Z")
> [@](#): > > I think what it will take is a dynamic, well-respected speaker to denounce Bush in a very public manner. Problem is, I cannot imagine who might do this. The cowardly fuck Democrats won’t. Every day I grow more and more pissed at these dickless wonders. A-fuckin’-men, brother. Preach it. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/73 "2003-06-02T23:33:49Z")
**RT** , they also failed to provision troops for maintaining the peace after the regime was toppled. I’m no armchair general, so I might be off here, but it seemed to me they didn’t allow for the chaos that followed. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/74 "2003-06-03T00:39:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Damn Fool War Cecil for President!! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/75 "2003-06-03T01:03:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by E-Sabbath \* > \*\*Powell’s not gonna run. … He doesn’t want the job. … This is one of the reasons he should be President. But he’s not going to be. \*\* Sadly, these days, actually wanting to be President is at the top of the list of disqualifications. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/76 "2003-06-03T02:30:10Z")
There _is_ a candidate well positioned to take advantage of the situation: Kerry. He voted for the “war powers” act so he can’t be tarbrushed as a unpatriotic wimp. His war record compared to GeeDubyas is so striking he probably won’t even have to mention it: everyone else will talk about it, while he can be too honorable to stoop. Pure gravy. If I were his Rove-monster, I would be advising him to keep cool on the topic for the time being. Let the shitstorm mature. If and when the public turns against the oozing quagmire that is almost certainly our fate in our adventure in “nation buildng”, he can then plausibly maintain that he was duped, hoodwinked by a President that he now, sadly, recognizes as deeply flawed. Futher, such patience insures that he can wait until GeeDubya is thoroughly cooked, before he carves his goose. Sad to report, there are many here amongst who would gloat openly over such an unseemly display of political professionalism. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/77 "2003-06-03T02:48:52Z")
> [@](#): > > _'lucy said_ > Sad to report, there are many here amongst who would gloat openly over such an unseemly display of political professionalism. Count me as first among them. I would only wish we had a gloat smilie. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/78 "2003-06-03T03:01:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elucidator \* > There _is_ a candidate well positioned to take advantage of the situation: Kerry. He voted for the “war powers” act so he can’t be tarbrushed as a unpatriotic wimp. His war record compared to GeeDubyas is so striking he probably won’t even have to mention it: everyone else will talk about it, while he can be too honorable to stoop. Pure gravy. > > If I were his Rove-monster, I would be advising him to keep cool on the topic for the time being. Let the shitstorm mature. If and when the public turns against the oozing quagmire that is almost certainly our fate in our adventure in “nation buildng”, he can then plausibly maintain that he was duped, hoodwinked by a President that he now, sadly, recognizes as deeply flawed. > > Futher, such patience insures that he can wait until GeeDubya is thoroughly cooked, before he carves his goose. Sad to report, there are many here amongst who would gloat openly over such an unseemly display of political professionalism. Indeed, it seems to me that he could just as easily take this “free time”, so to speak, to start developing his platform so as to separate himself from the ugliness of Bush’s presidency while focusing on what benefits he believes the American people saw. Sort of on a line with the image I saw detailed of Gore … trying to associate hinself with the good economy in Clinton’s two terms while dissociating himself from what “anti-family” acts had come to light (viz. his rather open tongue-kiss of Tipper at one point during the race). I am not in a position to say how well it worked, but it was interesting to see his campaign people attempt it. As Kerry is not currently (as far as I have seen, anyway) painted with the same “dumb hick” brush that Bush had, he is already free of the necessity of showing people he isn’t just another Guy from Texas, so to speak. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/79 "2003-06-03T03:05:55Z")
You already know about his being French, right? ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2003, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069/80 "2003-06-03T07:01:15Z")
**elucidator** , I had no idea. Prior to your mentioning him it’s entirely possible I’d never heard of the man. My knowledge of American politics is mainly from what I read on this board (I have reservations about watching too much CNN or Fox News, for example. Go fig;)). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colin-powell-called-prewar-intelligence-reports-bullshit/179069.md?page=5)