In his interview with Larry King, journalist Bob Woodward has come out and said outright that Colin Powell is the best candidate for Secretary of Defense after Robert Gates steps down from that role in 2011.
General Powell, as Woodward has pointed out numerous times, is a walking embodiment of the history of American wars since Vietnam, its success and failures. Keep in mind that as Chair of the Joint Chief he told President George Herbert Walker Bush, that after killing Saddam’s army the United States needed to get out and leave things as they might then be. Also keep in mind that he delivered a speech at the United Nations that now stands as something of a shadow of Adlai Stevenson’s pointed and powerful denunciation of Soviet international politics.
Former Secretary of State, Powell might soon be the future Secretary of Defense of the United States. It makes sense: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, National Security Advisor, one time Presidential hopeful, and finally Secretary of State. Demotion or otherwise, the role of Secretary of Defense looks like his for the refusing.
But he won’t. Not if his Commander in Chief asks him to step up.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
