Colin Powell and Some Doubts about His Civil Service

Here is further proof that Colin Powell is not all that many have built him up to be: "Colin Powell fails Military History."

Some background is here: "Remind me why I liked Powell."

However great a soldier he may have been--and I don't doubt that--he has continually shown himself to be somewhat inept and at times a duplicitous diplomat and civil servant.

As Dennis said here (2nd half of audio), here, and here, since it has come out that Powell knew all along who the leak was (in the Plame case), then why didn't he say something, why didn't he speak up, why did he let Karl Rove take so much heat and unjust criticism, and more to the point, why did he let Scooter Libby twist in the wind, let Libby's career be jeopordized, let Libby suffer the humilities of legal action ... all these things if he knew the truth? Not the sign of an honorable civil servant. More like the actions of someone with a political ax to grind.

Reading "The Disloyalists" by Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. will help explain some of the shenanigans. So will "Plame Out: The ridiculous end to the scandal that distracted Washington" by Christopher Hitchens.

Here is a list of related news and commentary articles.

While I'm at it:
"The real story behind the Armitage story" by Robert Novak

"What a load of Armitage!" by Michael Barone

"Plamegate" by Michael Barone

"Just A Plame Waste Of Time" by Captain Ed

"The 'Hubris' Of Richard Armitage" by Tom Maguire

"Give Bush a Break" by Jonah Goldberg

UPDATE:
The Anchoress has weighed in too: "Colin Powell: the male Valerie Plame"