Powell Reaffirms that Iraq Invasion Was “Right Decision”

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday appeared to back away from comments made earlier this week that he did not know if he would have supported the invasion of Iraq if he had known at the time that Iraq did not possess WMD stockpiles, according to New York Times (see GSN, Feb. 3).

Powell made his initial comments Monday in an interview with the Washington Post. In comments yesterday that had been coordinated with the White House, though, he said, “The bottom line is this: the president made the right decision.”

According to the Times, Powell’s comments in his Post interview had irritated some White House officials, who have complained before that the secretary has not always followed the official line on national security issues. One Bush administration official said yesterday that Powell was “a little forward on his skis again.”

Some senior White House officials also said yesterday, though, that President George W. Bush himself was not angry with Powell over his remarks and understood that Powell’s comments were similar to his own (Richard Stevenson, New York Times, Feb. 4).

Meanwhile, U.S. lawmakers have begun suggesting possible members for a planned commission to investigate U.S. intelligence-gathering efforts, according to the Washington Times. 

Among those suggested are former Senator Warren Rudman (R-N.H.), former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger and former Speaker of the House Tom Foley (D-Wash.), the Times reported. The commission may also include some current members of Congress, a senior Bush administration official said Sunday.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan said yesterday that the commission members will be “people of integrity,” and pledged their independence.

“The people that the president will appoint to this commission will be people of experience in the public sector. They will be people with expertise in intelligence,” McClellan said. “Their independence will be spelled out in the executive order that the president signs,” he said (Joseph Curl, Washington Times, Feb. 4).

Back to top
About Newswire  |  Contact National Journal  |  Re-Use Guidelines © Copyright 2008 by National Journal Group, Inc. The material in this section is produced independently for NTI by National Journal Group, Inc. Any reproduction or retransmission, in whole or in part, is a violation of federal law and is strictly prohibited without the consent of the National Journal Group, Inc. All rights reserved.