Colin Powell: nobody's peacenik

Why is the anti-war movement so upset about the resignation of a man who declared his plan for the Iraqi army was to "kill it"?

'Colin Powell, the lone dove, quits' says the Independent. 'Hawks to rule White House roost,' declares the Australian, anticipating the appointment of Condoleezza Rice as his replacement. The tone of all the discussion is that Powell was one of the 'good guys', a lone restraining voice against the warmongering neo-conservatives in the White House.

But while Powell's style may have differed a little from others in the administration, his sole concern was the unambiguous pursuit of American interests, whatever they were deemed to be. The 'Powell Doctrine' may be summarised as follows: use force as a last resort, make it overwhelming and disproportionate to the enemy's forces, get public support, and have an exit strategy. Powell's views were coloured by the reaction to America's defeat in Vietnam, but they were not intended as any kind of anti-war strategy. Rather, his ideas were about ensuring that when wars were fought, all the necessary conditions were present for speedy victory.

So, he explained his strategy towards the Iraqi army before the first Gulf War in 1991 as, 'First we're going to cut it off, then we're going to kill it.' More recently, this meant that he was happy to act as Bush's frontman presenting the dubious evidence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction to the United Nations - but he was less happy that the Coalition forces didn't invade with the overwhelming firepower that might have been used in earlier conflicts.

What is really noteworthy in this discussion is not the office politics in the White House but the fact that many of those who are anti-war now seem to regard Powell as some sort of an ally - all this following on from the liberal support for John Kerry, the hawkish veteran picked by the Democrats so that they wouldn't look soft. Isn't it time that those who claim to oppose Western intervention in Iraq and elsewhere stood up for themselves rather than relying on such dubious friends?

Military strategy: Powell Doctrine, PBS

Colin Powell, the lone dove, quits, Independent, 16 November 2004

Powell never the dove admirers imagined, Globe and Mail, 16 November 2004