Earth and stone in the US election
Monday 20 October 2008 at 14:04 UTC
Would General Colin Powell make a good President of the United States? In my view he would make an outstanding president. But would he be elected? Possibly not. This has nothing to do with popular feeling about America’s most famous black soldier. Powell shines as a diplomat and military commander, but from what I can see he is not an effective or inspiring politician.
To hear Powell endorse Barack Obama comes as no surprise to me, and the timing is just right. I was struck by the detail of what Powell said. What disappoints me is that no other senior political figure, Obama included, has seen fit to challenge the anti-Muslim bigotry stoked, says Powell, by senior Republicans during the election campaign.
In his endorsement of Obama, General Powell made reference to US Army Corporal Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan from Manahawkin, New Jersey, who in August of last year was killed in Iraq. In this post I’ve not included the ubiquitous picture of Khan’s mother Elsheba leaning on her son’s gravestone. That posed, emotionally-saturated photograph is part of a essay by Platon in The New Yorker magazine. I much prefer the simple image above of the grave, found on a page devoted to Khan on the Arlington National Cemetary website.
Support 
Monday 20 October 2008 at 22:36 UTC
How about a Petraeus/Powell ticket for 2012?
Monday 20 October 2008 at 23:21 UTC
Wouldn’t that be, like, a military coup?
Tuesday 21 October 2008 at 18:25 UTC
You should read Kamm on the subject:
http://timesonline.typepad.com/oliver_kamm/2008/10/powells-endorse.html
Tuesday 21 October 2008 at 19:56 UTC
“You should read Kamm on the subject:”
I’d rather not. Kamm is so predictable that I could probably reproduce his blog virtually word for word.
But to paraphrase Kamm: “Powell is not credible; he cannot be taken seriously; he is a deeply flawed human being of no real achievement; I am all-knowing; anyone who disagrees with me deserves to lose their job.”
Kamm is turning into a William Rees-Smug for the 21st century.
Wednesday 22 October 2008 at 03:27 UTC
That’s not really fair. Kamm gave specific examples why he does not admire Powell. Among them is that Powell worked against the war to remove Iraq from Kuwait.
Wednesday 22 October 2008 at 03:42 UTC
Given what uninformed plebs such as you, me and Kamm know for sure, saying that Powell “worked against the war to remove Iraq from Kuwait” is hardly credible. Another interpretation – and one I am more inclined to accept – is that Powell counselled against the excesses of neonconservative armchair warriors in the US administration. When it comes to dealing with hostile military forces, I would rather trust a military man such as Powell than right-wing politicos or a hedge-fund manager turned newspaper leader writer.