Colin Powell?

I did say "to a lesser extent." You really think he had ANY shot at stopping the war? In THIS political system? What could he have possibly done? He was completely outnumbered, and everyone knows that you can't go out on the world stage and dissent from the rest of your country's leadership. If you do, not only is your case drowned out by the rest of the people (including your boss) who are against you, but it makes the country look like it doesn't have unified leadership. Yes, everyone knows disagreements happen behind closed doors, but the Secretary of State speaking out against the direction of the President could create a really bad situation. I agree that at some point you have to take a stand, but it was going to take a lot more than just Colin Powell to stop this train's momentum, and I'm not sure who would have stood with him if he did decide to take a stand.

My only reason for including Powell is because he's the highest ranking individual left in our Government that isn't a mindlessly-led automaton. He occasionally speaks out against things. No, he never takes it as far as going out to the UN and denouncing the war, but he hits the Sunday talk shows and occasionally drops a hint or two that he would do things any differently if he had any kind of power at all. He's also indicated that he'll be leaving after he serves this term, which sends a message on its own (even if he's forced to say it has nothing to do with current policy, we all know better.)

Anyway, I also found this story interesting. An author and a retired General, both vocal Bush supporters in the past, are quite critical of the path we're going down with the Iraq war. Neither is going too far out on a limb, and I don't think either would come out and vote for Kerry, but again, it's a very powerful statement when someone who's supposed to be "part of the gang" comes out, however sheepishly, against what's happening.