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.N.authorization; and it had no desire to occupyIraq.Even Wolfowitz and Cheney did not advocate overthrowing Saddam,although Wolfowitz changed his mind in the mid-1990s, and Cheney changedhis by the time he was vice president.Powell recalled,  In none of the meetings Iattended was dismembering Iraq, conquering Baghdad, or changing the Iraqiform of government ever seriously considered. Bush spoke of creating a  NewWorld Order and described Saddam as  Hitler revisited, but both wereboilerplate motivators, not serious claims.He never seriously intended to followthrough on the implications of either statement, to the subsequent regret of manyneoconservatives.14Upon visiting American troops in Riyadh in December, Powell promised thatthey would not get bogged down in a Vietnam-like quagmire.An essentialfeature of his foreign policy strategy emerged from this assurance.Powellcontended that the United States needed to be slow to decide for war, and thatupon committing to fight, it was imperative that the United States employoverwhelming force to smash the enemy quickly.He was so emphatic on thistheme that journalists dubbed it  the Powell Doctrine. The Powell Doctrinebecame a staple of Powell s case for an aggressive Base Force strategy.With theend of the Cold War, he argued, the United States was not likely to fight a war thatrequired more than 250,000 troops, but the days of fighting half-hearted warswere over, too.He wanted a  proud, free, strong America to be the champion offreedom throughout the world, and he complained that the Bush administrationwas not given enough credit for restructuring the military.It was possible to getworld-embracing force projection and a peace dividend, he urged; in fact, theBush administration was doing it, with little applause.15 We abandoned the old way of doing business, forever asking for more,forever sending up requests that we knew could not possibly be supported by theCongress Powell told the Senate Armed Services Committee in 1991. We didaway with all of that& and I don t believe the Secretary of Defense, thePresident, or the Department of Defense has gotten sufficient credit. By 1991the Bush administration had begun to downsize the active Army and the AirForce by one-third, the Navy by one-fourth, and the Marine Corps by 20 percent.Powell was willing to live without Osprey aircraft, the F-14D fighter, and theAHIP light helicopter, but he supported an upgraded B-1 nuclear bomber (theB-1B) and plugged hard for the B2 bomber because of its strategic agility.The B-2 THE BULLY ON THE BLOCK 31could be sent anywhere in the world on a moment s notice without having torefuel at a base.Asked if all four services really needed their own air force,Powell replied,  I thank God that the Congress in its wisdom gave us four airforces. All of America s air forces were uniquely valuable.16Powell traded on his rising national prestige to reshape the military.Hisfriendliness, immense dignity, and moral integrity were respected across thepolitical spectrum.Millions of Americans who knew nothing of Cheney orWolfowitz knew admiringly of Powell s resumé: the son of Jamaican immigrantswho worked in New York s garment district; grew up in the Bronx; joined theROTC unit at City College of New York; served his first tour of duty from 1958to 1961; stayed in the Army for two tours in Vietnam; rose through the ranks as astaff officer, not a division commander; named a White House Fellow in 1972,where he made friendships with Republican powerbrokers; off to Korea for atour of duty as a colonel; back to Washington to attend the National War Collegeand work at the Pentagon; called to the Carter administration in 1977, where heworked for the defense and energy departments, and was promoted to brigadiergeneral; on to the defense department of Ronald Reagan, for whom he had voted,and where he was promoted to major general; chosen by Reagan in 1987 asNational Security Advisor.By the end of the Gulf War he was a politicalsuperstar.At a renomination hearing in September 1991, Republican SenatorStrom Thurmond hailed him as  the catalyst that brought together the forceswhich overwhelmed the power of Saddam Hussein. Republican Senator JohnWarner expressed  my just unlimited respect and admiration for you [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]