Open Letter to Colin Powell
01/11/05 13:14
Like
you, my father was a career Army officer. Like you,
he felt honored to serve in the US military. Like
you, he entered the military when racism was overt.
Like you, he rose to officer status (he retired a
Colonel) despite the obstacles placed in his
path.
You receive the benefit of the doubt, General Powell. You receive it because black people admire the heights you attained in your career, and because you have never become a sock puppet for the right. You never acquiesced to the Faustian bargain that men like Clarence Thomas or Armstrong Williams seem to accept. You never agreed to forget you were black--in exchange for white handlers rewarding you as if you were white. You never felt you had to do as Thomas Sowell does and deny the existence of racism today or yesterday. You aligned yourself with causes you felt right, despite their lack of popularity in the Republican party to which you belonged.
You have deserved the benefit of the doubt. However, to date, over 2000 Americans are dead, over ten thousand wounded; hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis are dead. The US standing in the world continues to plummet. Terrorist activity is on the rise. The Iraq war has caused these things, and you presented the evidence to the world that made that war happen.
We now know that the evidence you presented was based on lies. You insist that you did not know that, and I, and most others, believe you. However, apologies are no longer enough. As this administration continues to damage US security, attempts to strip citizens of hard-won rights through packing the Supreme Court with extremists--as this occurs, you no longer have the luxury of remaining silent. Loyalty is valuable, but "just following orders" is a coward's excuse. When, General Powell, does the former morph into the latter? I think that time is now. It's when the blood runs so thick, that only the blind or the morally corrupt cannot see it, and only the ideologically crippled refuse to acknowledge it. That time is now.
Recently, your former deputy at the State Department, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, spoke the truth about the Bush administration and its foreign policy. It's time for you to do the same. Everyone realizes that the Bushies play rough, and that any blots on your record or your family's will be ruthlessly exploited by their attack machine should you come forward. However, men and women are dying. Are they dying needlessly? That is a question you can help answer. And if you are anything near the patriot that you have claimed to be, you will help American answer that question. You will put the truth about the Bushes. You will put the country above the Bushes.
If you do not, all of us who admired your accomplishments will have to sit back and watch as you, a diminished figure who was shamelessly used by those whose power you put above your own pride, your own reputation, and your country's well being--we will watch as you retire to soak up hefty speaking fees in mild infamy; watch as you quietly lick the blood from your hands.
You receive the benefit of the doubt, General Powell. You receive it because black people admire the heights you attained in your career, and because you have never become a sock puppet for the right. You never acquiesced to the Faustian bargain that men like Clarence Thomas or Armstrong Williams seem to accept. You never agreed to forget you were black--in exchange for white handlers rewarding you as if you were white. You never felt you had to do as Thomas Sowell does and deny the existence of racism today or yesterday. You aligned yourself with causes you felt right, despite their lack of popularity in the Republican party to which you belonged.
You have deserved the benefit of the doubt. However, to date, over 2000 Americans are dead, over ten thousand wounded; hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis are dead. The US standing in the world continues to plummet. Terrorist activity is on the rise. The Iraq war has caused these things, and you presented the evidence to the world that made that war happen.
We now know that the evidence you presented was based on lies. You insist that you did not know that, and I, and most others, believe you. However, apologies are no longer enough. As this administration continues to damage US security, attempts to strip citizens of hard-won rights through packing the Supreme Court with extremists--as this occurs, you no longer have the luxury of remaining silent. Loyalty is valuable, but "just following orders" is a coward's excuse. When, General Powell, does the former morph into the latter? I think that time is now. It's when the blood runs so thick, that only the blind or the morally corrupt cannot see it, and only the ideologically crippled refuse to acknowledge it. That time is now.
Recently, your former deputy at the State Department, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, spoke the truth about the Bush administration and its foreign policy. It's time for you to do the same. Everyone realizes that the Bushies play rough, and that any blots on your record or your family's will be ruthlessly exploited by their attack machine should you come forward. However, men and women are dying. Are they dying needlessly? That is a question you can help answer. And if you are anything near the patriot that you have claimed to be, you will help American answer that question. You will put the truth about the Bushes. You will put the country above the Bushes.
If you do not, all of us who admired your accomplishments will have to sit back and watch as you, a diminished figure who was shamelessly used by those whose power you put above your own pride, your own reputation, and your country's well being--we will watch as you retire to soak up hefty speaking fees in mild infamy; watch as you quietly lick the blood from your hands.