Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Colin Powell interview

An interesting interview with Colin Powell. A man that I respect immensely. After reading his book Soldier I grew to respect the man even more. I think Powell is a smart man that holds true to his beliefs.

Today GQ posted an interview about him that was very telling
I like his take on this and I generally agree particularly with this part:

Isn’t the new global threat we face even more dangerous?
What is the greatest threat facing us now? People will say it’s terrorism. But are there any terrorists in the world who can change the American way of life or our political system? No. Can they knock down a building? Yes. Can they kill somebody? Yes. But can they change us? No. Only we can change ourselves. So what is the great threat we are facing?

I would approach this differently, in almost Marshall-like terms. What are the great opportunities out there—ones that we can take advantage of? It should not be just about creating alliances to deal with a guy in a cave in Pakistan. It should be about how do we create institutions that keep the world moving down a path of wealth creation, of increasing respect for human rights, creating democratic institutions, and increasing the efficiency and power of market economies? This is perhaps the most effective way to go after terrorists.


I also see his point on this:

So you think we are getting too hunkered down and scared?
Yes! We are taking too much counsel of our fears.

This doesn’t mean there isn’t a terrorist threat. There is a threat. And we should send in military forces when we have a target to deal with. We should also secure our airports, if that makes us safer. But let’s welcome every foreign student we can get our hands on. Let’s make sure that foreigners come to the Mayo Clinic here, and not the Mayo facility in Dubai or somewhere else. Let’s make sure people come to Disney World and not throw them up against the wall in Orlando simply because they have a Muslim name. Let’s also remember that this country was created by immigrants and thrives as a result of immigration, and we need a sound immigration policy.

Let’s show the world a face of openness and what a democratic system can do. That’s why I want to see Guantánamo closed. It’s so harmful to what we stand for. We literally bang ourselves in the head by having that place. What are we doing this to ourselves for? Because we’re worried about the 380 guys there? Bring them here! Give them lawyers and habeas corpus. We can deal with them. We are paying a price when the rest of the world sees an America that seems to be afraid and is not the America they remember.

You can drive up the road from here and come to a spot where there is a megachurch over here, a little Episcopal church over there, a Catholic church around the corner that’s almost cathedral-size, and between them is a huge Hindu temple. There are no police needed to guard any of this. There are not many places in the world where you would see that. Yes, there are a few dangerous nuts in Brooklyn and New Jersey who want to blow up Kennedy Airport and Fort Dix. These are dangerous criminals, and we must deal with them. But come on, this is not a threat to our survival! The only thing that can really destroy us is us. We shouldn’t do it to ourselves, and we shouldn’t use fear for political purposes—scaring people to death so they will vote for you, or scaring people to death so that we create a terror-industrial complex.


Trust but verify.
That is what we need to abide by. Trust the foreign student but VERIFY that he/she is who they say they are.

Trust Muslims but don't disregard research like this from the PEW research center. Research that paints a disturbing image of acceptance of these terrorist acts.

But I ask, how are we supposed to gain intelligence from these captured terrorists if we put them through our legal system and give them a lawyer on our tax dollars. Its seems a bit odd to me that we would give them rights that they seek to destroy in this nation. Especially since many even in the UK are calling for Sharia Law to take hold. It may be a far cry but letting this sort of crap fester may take hold.

America is unique and perhaps the only thing that can destroy us is ourselves but that does not mean that we should discount the threat that these crazy bastards pose. Its not that clear cut and dry.


And I disagree with General Powell on things like this:

Do you still support affirmative action?
I have always supported affirmative action. I believe there is still a place for it. I spoke at the 1996 Republican convention in San Diego with my friend Ward Connerly [a black opponent of affirmative action] sitting in the audience. He had warned me that he would walk out if I made any reference to affirmative action. And when I did express my support for it, I looked right at him, and he didn’t move. Affirmative action is a concept that is probably not a growth industry. I’m glad it will eventually go away. But when I go to these inner-city neighborhoods, including across the street here in the Washington area, you can’t tell me these kids have the same opportunity that other kids have or that my kids have. Is it because they’re black that these kids are at a disadvantage? To some extent no, to some extent yes. We can’t deny it. Therefore, to the extent that we still believe it appropriate to provide some way of balancing the legacy of the past, I think we have an obligation to do so.


Honestly I believe that their may be SOME parts of this nation that AA is needed but OVERALL what keeps these black kids and other minorities in these areas are their own background and upbringing. Their own social problems within their areas and the victim mentality that keeps them there.

9 times out of 10 its not outside forces that keep you within a community or a perpetual state of poverty. Its your own mentality that keeps you there, generation after generation. Its a problem that we need to confront similar to what Cosby is doing around the nation now.

That is the sort of leadership that is needed. A leadership that will BREAK the cycle not create another system within a govt to fix a problem.


And I animately disagree with Mr Powell here:

America could not survive without immigration. Even the undocumented immigrants are contributing to our economy. That’s the country my parents came to. That’s the image we have to portray to the rest of the world: kind, generous, a nation of nations, touched by every nation, and we touch every nation in return.


Yes sir they are contributing to this economy but not to the great positive that many choose to believe. Just ask the Border states that are seeing hospitals close, Crime rate increases, and in with the additional cost and need that is being taken on by cities around the nation that need to now pay for more police, more fire departments for the flood of new illegal immigrants into this country.

There is a reason that there are caps on immigration To control the explosion of population growth and slowly gradually as a nation or as a city grow with the increase in population. But when you have an open border you cannot do this. You have to expand quickly or do like Hazelton PA did and get rid of them. But of course you will have judges legislating from the bench as usual.

As I mentioned before in other posts. I came here as a First Generation Immigrant, but my parents took the legal steps to come here not the illegal ones. I wish others like Powell would get that.

Its one thing to have the economic impact from legal immigration growth but its another to have it unbridled population growth like we see with illegal immigrants.

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