Powell Goes

Not unexpectedly, Colin Powell has resigned from his post of US Secretary of State.

Powell was the odd one out amongst the bunch of oddballs that comprise the US cabinet. The only cabinet member who had any meaningful military experience, he was a moderate in a government comprised of gung-ho conservatives. He would have been more suited to a Democrat administration.

Having experienced war first hand, he was reluctant to advise the use of military force unless absolutely necessary. It must have been galling to watch the US commit to folly in Iraq for the flimsiest of reasons when it hadn't finished the job in Afghanistan.

It wouldn't have been pleasant justifying the US stance on Iraq to the UN, only to find out that the evidence was false. Or when the Defence Department sidelined the State Department for the responsibility of rebuilding Iraq.

Whether Powell should have resigned from his post when he had obvious differences with direction the government was taking is a moot point. Perhaps it was the military background, the creed of not quitting when the going gets tough. Maybe staying on saved the US from bigger blunders. We'll have to wait for his memoirs to find out.