Would you vote for Colin Powell for President? ( Archived) (40)

i vote for you, lutz...but not for president.

i was thinking...something a little...um...more personal.

Yeah, I was born in Germany. Man the red tape that my parents had to go through. Citizen of two countries until I was 22.

I would, Lutz. :)

Lutz for president...

Mech

His last military assignment, from October 1, 1989 to September 30, 1993, was as the 12th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest military position in the Department of Defense. At age 52, he became the youngest officer to serve in this position. In 1989, he joined Eisenhower and Alexander Haig as the third general since World War II to reach four-star rank without ever being a divisional commander. During this time, he oversaw 28 crises, including the invasion of Panama in 1989 to remove General Manuel Noriega from power in the United States invasion of Panama and Operation Desert Storm in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. During these events, Powell earned his nickname, "the reluctant warrior". He rarely advocated military intervention as the first solution to an international dispute, and instead usually prescribed diplomacy and containment.

Powell mentioned in his autobiography that he is haunted by the nightmare of the Vietnam War. He felt the leadership was very ineffective. Powell served a tour in Vietnam as a military advisor, and was badly injured when he stepped on a bamboo "punji stick". The massive infection nearly killed him and it shortened his first tour. It was also during his Vietnam service, his second tour, that Powell was decorated for bravery. He single-handedly rescued several men from a burning helicopter, one of them being Maj. Gen. Charles Gettys, the commander of the Americal Division.

He was opposed to the majority of George H.W. Bush Administration officials who advocated the deployment of troops to the Middle East to force Iraqi president Saddam Hussein to withdraw his armies from neighboring Kuwait, believing the dictator could instead be contained through sanctions and a buildup of forces around Kuwait.

As an officer, Powell also valued loyalty very highly, and as a result, did not usually "undermine force" to achieve a military objective while minimizing U.S. casualties. These sentiments have become central tenets of what has since been dubbed the "Powell Doctrine".

Another controversial part of his career is that Powell also had an operational role in the illegal Iran-Contra affair, acting as the initial coordinator for selling missiles to Iran in exchange for American hostages.

The guy is fascinating to read about.

right, so i have become a governor, perhaps i do first a movie "Lutz the barbarian" then i marry the sister barbara bush - oh must i?
Well if sacrifices need to be done.
And finally i need someone who is that damned smart, and will do a chess move like arnie had lately done.

Am i in now folks?


Thanks Lori for your good intensions, but that would be a little to much.

lol, yep.

i AM too much...

I'm curious how he got it from walking on a punji stick in combat boots.. generally they're used with a tripwire of some sort, and are designed to shred flesh - used in instances of an ambush-like scenario where one false step would throw someone off balance, and potentially faceplant into a few 100 more of them.

Ronald Reagan was an actor and he made president. I think you are on the right track, Lutz. :)

Hmmm, I found this information on Wikipedia.