Lasting Valor Book

Colin Powell was obviously an astounding fellow. Son of Caribbean immigrants who rises to the top of the military and political systems. He is described as a very bright, extremely self controlled charismatic leader. Reading about the workings of the White House in the 2 Iraq and 1 Afghanistan wars was interesting.

This book should be titled "The Good Soldier." At crucial turns Powell willingly participated in illegal, immoral things because he was in essence a company man. My admiration of Powell was tempered by the information in the book about 1. His participation in the coverup of the Mai Lai massacre (He arrive as an officer in that sector of Vietnam a couple of months after the massacre. That something terrible had happened there was common knowledge but when asked about it early on by an army investigator he simply read the action report and criticized the whistle blower.) 2. His participation in the Iran Contra Deal 3.His following the party line in the presentation of the need to invade Iraq by Bush 2 and his lending his gravitas to the presentation before the UN with data he suspected. It reminds me of McNamara's later admissions that he knew V. Nam was a lost cause while he vigorously pursued it. To people with great power comes great responsibility and if Colin refused to go along with being manipulated by the G.W Bush administration there might be a lot fewer dead American soldiers. But in the end he was a loyal company man.