Former secretary of state Colin Powell said on “Meet the Press” Sunday several things that suggest he has gravitated to the Democrats’ side in the upcoming election, and will be available for service in a Democratic administration. Powell, after all, was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the beginning of the Clinton administration in 1993, though that carry-over responsibility had nothing to do with Clinton. Powell’s key “I’m not a Bushie” statements:
• he would close down the U.S. military prison for enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "this afternoon" because it has become a major problem in "the way the world perceives America."
• "We didn't prepare ourselves well enough for the kinds of challenges that occurred in the aftermath of the fall of Baghdad. . . we didn't have enough troops there to restore that order, nor did we have the political understanding of our obligation to restore that order."
• Iraq is a sectarian civil war "that ultimately will be fought out between Sunnis and Shias, Shias and Shias, Sunnis and al-Qaeda." In that turmoil, Powell said, al-Qaeda "is a relatively small percentage of this overall problem, but a very violent percentage."
• Commenting on recent in U.S. military leadership changes in Iraq and the new White House war czar, Powell said: "You can move the deck chairs around and you can bring in new people and you can change organizational arrangements, but ultimately the president has the responsibility."
• Powell declined to pledge support for the Republican presidential nominee, saying that he would back "the best person I can find." He wouldn’t rule out returning to public service and had no favorite in the presidential race.
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