Commissar SFLUFAN Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 Colin Powell: a career marked by Faustian bargains in service of war | Cynthia A Young | The Guardian WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM Unlike many Black military men before him, Powell behaved just as the white leaders had: waging war when and where he was told to do so Quote Again and again throughout his storied rise, Powell made Faustian bargains, publicly endorsing military excursions, including both Iraq wars, that he privately admitted were risky enterprises. Whether Powell knew the falseness of the intel on which his security council testimony rested, whether he genuinely failed to find evidence of the My Lai massacre or whether he regretted the first Iraq war’s toll in blood and treasure, Powell, like the military man he was, never broke ranks. The price for inclusion and advancement in the military and the country it represents required of Powell that he follow orders, even when they were illegal, unethical, or simply strategically wrongheaded. Unlike many Black military men before him who resisted in big and small ways, Powell behaved just as the white leaders before him had, waging war when and where he was told to do so. Though his trajectory made him a man of many firsts, his Blackness never seemed to influence the military or professional decisions Powell made. The price of admission to the “American dream” was conformity and obedience. It was deference to a country and a white supremacist society that made of him an exception, if not the rule of racial equality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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