When he appears today on Meet The Press, it is rumored that Colin Powell may endorse Senator Barack Obama for President. Or maybe he won't (Larry Wilkerson to Steve Clemons). [UPDATE: Powell has, in fact, endorsed Barack Obama.] But if he does side with Obama, it's worth recalling the Powell Doctrine, formulated on the eve of the Gulf War which evicted Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, by the then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:
- action should be used only as a last resort and only if there is a clear risk to national security by the intended target;
- the force, when used, should be overwhelming and disproportionate to the force used by the enemy;
- there must be strong support for the campaign by the general public;
- and there must be a clear exit strategy from the conflict in which the military is engaged.
Change "enemy" and "target" and put "exit strategy" in abeyance, and you have the elements of what could be a nicely-timed campaign announcement by the former Secretary of State and retired general, a man who still commands respect in many quarters, despite his tarnished reputation as a purveyor of Bush-Cheney disinformation at the UN. "Last resort... only if there is a clear risk to national security... strong support by the general public..." Colin Powell obviously sees that the stakes are extremely high. I hope that he will shed his old soldier persona, where loyalty to his former employers tempered his criticism of the Bush Administration to the point where its impact was lost.
There was a time when Colin Powell was touted as a potential Presidential candidate, and his stature worldwide was enormous. That has dimmed somewhat, but should he announce for Obama, there is no denying that the supposed "national security" McCain campaign would hear yet another nail driven into its coffin. That is probably why up to a few days ago, most mention of a potential Powell endorsement came out of the right wing press: Fox News, Weekly Standard, William Kristol. And Fox saw racial solidarity at play at a recent Powell appearance in London:
Colin Powell has his dancing shoes on, fueling speculation that he's gearing up to do the Obama Two-Step. The normally staid former U.S. secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff performed an impromptu hip-hop dance alongside well-known rap stars Tuesday following a speech at a festival in London celebrating African-American music and fashion.
Given the avalanche of racial and/or religious-overtoned robocalls, negative ads, and speech writer innuendo, I assume that the Fox/McCain spin machine has already factored in the loss of Colin Powell to Barack Obama, and will simply add footage of a gyrating Powell to their store of images to be spliced with Al Qaeda mug shots. Anything to diminish the seriousness of Powell's decision.
But serious Republicans of the Colin Powell, George Schultz, Chuck Hagel stripe - people who value a common sense, adult approach to the world - may take notice. I'm even hoping that some Republican friends of mine might be tempted to abandon an increasingly erratic and out-of-touch McCain, backed up by SNL star Sarah Palin. Talk about a "clear risk to national security." Colin Powell, bring on your overwhelming force!