The Powell Trap: Easing Us Into War
by Norman Solomon
Dissident Voice
September 5,
2002
There's something pathetic -- and dangerous -- about the
crush of liberal commentators now pinning their hopes on Colin Powell.
Yes, the secretary of state is a "moderate" --
compared to the likes of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. But that's not saying
much. And history tells us, even if the press won't, that Powell does not have
a record as a man of conscience.
Media coverage is portraying Powell as a steady impediment
to a huge assault on Iraq. But closer scrutiny would lead us to different
conclusions.
Instead of undermining prospects for a military
conflagration, Powell's outsized prestige is a very useful asset for the war planners.
The retired general "is seen by many of Washington's friends and allies
abroad as essential to the credibility of Bush's foreign policy," the
French news agency AFP noted as September began.
Avid participation in deplorable actions has been integral
to Powell's career. A few examples:
* Serving as a top
deputy to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, Powell supervised the Army's
transfer of 4,508 TOW missiles to the CIA in January 1986. Nearly half of those
missiles became part of the Reagan administration's arms-for-hostages swap with
Iran. Powell helped to hide that transaction from Congress and the public.
* As President
Reagan's national security adviser, Powell became a key operator in U.S. efforts
to overthrow the elected government of Nicaragua. When he traveled to Central
America in January 1988, Powell threatened a cutoff of U.S. aid to any country in
the region that refused to go along with continued warfare by the contra
guerrillas, who were in the midst of killing thousands of Nicaraguan civilians.
Powell worked to prevent the success of a peace process initiated by Costa
Rica's president, Oscar Arias.
* When U.S. troops
invaded Panama on Dec. 20, 1989, Powell was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff. He had "emerged as the crucial figure in the decision to
invade," according to British newspaper reporter Martin Walker. Hundreds
of civilians died in the first hours of the invasion. Powell declared on that
day: "We have to put a shingle outside our door saying, 'Superpower lives
here.'"
* In late 2000,
while Bush operatives went all-out during the Florida recount to grab the
electoral votes of a state where many thousands of legally qualified African
Americans had been prevented from voting due to Republican efforts, Powell went
to George W. Bush's ranch in Texas to pose for a photo-op and show support for his
presidential quest.
Now, journalists tell us that the latest manifestation of Colin
Powell's "moderate" resolve is his stance on Iraq. But the Powell
rhetoric about the need for allied support and U.N. Security Council backing
can be understood as a fervent desire to line up as many ducks as possible
before the shooting starts. Under Powell's direction, U.S. diplomats -- diligently
laying down groundwork for war -- are brandishing carrots and sticks at
numerous countries.
"Access to Qatar's al Udeid Air Base will be essential
to an Iraq invasion," a Wall Street Journal story reported
on Sept. 3. Big deals are being cut. "Qatari officials have told U.S.
officials that they want a guarantee that the U.S. military presence in Qatar would
be permanent. They also want the U.S. to assume a greater portion of the $400
million cost of upgrading al Udeid air base for the U.S. Air Force."
As for reluctant members of the U.N. Security Council, some
bloody quid pro quos are on the horizon. In the Journal's words, Moscow
"is expected to seek an understanding with the U.S. that it will have a
freer hand in putting down its rebellion in Chechnya and that it will get a
portion of the postwar contracts for rebuilding Iraq."
Powell's "moderate" approach is in sync with the
outlook of Fareed Zakaria, former managing editor of the elite periodical Foreign
Affairs, who shares Powell’s interest in urging the return of U.N.
weapons inspectors to Iraq – a good PR step in the quest for a confrontation
leading to war. “Even if the inspections do not produce the perfect crisis,”
Zakaria wrote in a Sept. 2 Newsweek column, “Washington will
still be better off for having tried because it would be seen to have made
every effort to avoid war.”
Along similar lines, CNN reports, Powell “is
working to convince the president of the need to build a strong coalition, similar
to the one that existed during the 1991 Gulf War, and win the support of the
U.N. Security Council through a new resolution.”
Deadly hawks come in many styles. Some have polished
talons.
Norman Solomon’s latest
book is The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media. His syndicated
column focuses on media and politics. Email: mediabeat@igc.org