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*** UPDATED AT 2 PM ET WITH POWELL'S INTERVIEW WITH NBC'S ANDREA MITCHELL ***
One of the GOP's foreign-policy heavyweights, Colin Powell, took Mitt Romney to task for calling Russia the United States' "No. 1 geopolitical foe."
“Come on, Mitt, think. That isn’t the case," Powell, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on MSNBC's Morning Joe this morning.
Powell added, "He’s been catching a lot of heck from the more regular GOP foreign affairs community. We’re kind of taken aback by it. How can you--? Come on. Look at the world. There is no pure competitor to the United States of America.”
He also called some of Romney’s advisers “quite far to the right.”
Though he was tasked with making the case for war in Iraq before the United Nations, it's no secret that Powell, who was George W. Bush's secretary of state, is no fan of the Cheney-Rumsfeld neo-conservative foreign-policy wing of the Republican Party.
Powell, who is doing media interviews promoting his book, endorsed President Obama in 2008. While he has declined to say who he would vote for this time around, he gave a large measure of credit to President Obama yesterday on the Today show on domestic policy, crediting him with pulling the country back from the financial brink and rescuing the auto industry.
His only gripe with Obama was from the left -- that he failed to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
*** UPDATE *** On MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports this afternoon, Powell warned Romney against hyperbole on foreign policy, from Russia to Iran.
“I think he needs to not just accept these cataclysmic pronouncements,” Powell said. “He needs to really think carefully about these [statements].”
Powell said Russia had the GDP of a mid-size European country and noted that Russia and China “need to have a good relationship with us.”
He added, “Let’s not go creating enemies where none need exist… let’s not hyperbolize the situation.”
Powell also advocated talking to Iran, played down the notion that Iran was close to developing a nuclear weapon, and suggested it was possible to allow Iran to produce nuclear power and stop them from going further to create a weapon.
“I don’t know what Mr. Romney would prefer to do” as it relates to Iran, Powell said, noting that there weren’t many alternatives to talking to them. Powell warned that there couldn’t be “lofty expectations” in talks with Iran and that it couldn’t be trusted, but stressed, “They’re totally isolated.”
Though he has largely said positive things about Obama on his book tour, Powell, who now makes money in private equity, defended the industry.
There’s “nothing evil about private equity,” he said. “They miss a lot of their bets. Sometimes they kill of companies that need to be killed off.”
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What do you mean how is Russia not our biggest geopolitical foe? How could they possibly be? They are perpetually broke. Their military is in a dissaray becuase some months,they cant even afford to pay their pilots in their airforce. They are large,but they dont have the money to project themselves geopolitically. If ANYONE is our biggest rival its China. They dont have the miltiary hardware to project military power geopolitically,but at least,unlike Russia have the money to throw around.
Forget about Obama for a second. Lets focus on Romney. Romneys statement that Russia is our number one geopolitical foe is a Palin/Bachman-esque statement that shows just how clueless he is on world politics.
Russia simply is not a threat. We deal with them not as another super power,but as a small player,whose main leverage in geopolitics is they are one of the major oil producing nations. In fact however,Russia has LESS leverage than the other oil producing nations becuase they are so desperate for cash. They cant afford to use that oil as leverage becuase they need to sell it actually WORSE than we need to buy it.
The Soviet Union is even less of a threat, it doesn't exist anymore. the romney didn't say Russia.
I have always respected Colin Powell. His courage, dignity and love for our country are inspiring.
He has, again, demonstrated that love of country. Although he has usually aligned himself with the Republican Party, he doesn't feel required to associate with crazy people. He makes his decisions based on what is best for the United States of America.
We should think and learn from his example.
Very nicely stated Butterfly!
You mindless lame stream media coolaid drinkers........wake up! Collen couldn't find his -ss with ten hands. Plain and simple there is no more formiable apponent than the Soviet union. do you really beileve that they just turn off their balllistic missles? They are without a doubt the largest threat to the United states. Collen powell is just like Obama, they both lie out of both sides of their mouth. Our military will or have never underestimated the Soviet Union and never will.
Idiot.
Come on, Jr-seattle.
The Soviet Union? Really? How very 1991 of you.
The Soviet Union is totally not a threat, it doesn't exist anymore.
Koolman, what do I think?
First of all, I think your comment about the Obama administration's approach to a UN negotiation over arms exports has nothing to do with the discussion here.
Second, you have either been duped by someone or you are trying to dupe others. What you put forward as a Reuters article contains a significant amount of lies that Reuters never wrote. The actual Reuters article -- from three years ago -- is here: "reuters.com/article/2009/10/15/us-arms-usa-treaty-idUSTRE59E0Q920091015" (I'm hoping the link shows up. Or you can google it just like I did). The treaty being discussed has nothing to do with domestic gun ownership within the US or any other country. It would regulate arms exports.
Third, you do realize that treaties have to be ratified by the Senate, right?
Fourth, let's assume that the Obama administration did come up with some crafty way to circumvent "the normal legislative process in Congress," there is another institution in this country that every once in a while forces the executive branch to stop doing things it deems to be unconstitutional. What is it called? I'm drawing a blank right now, because reading your post has made me stupid.
Are we sure Romney can run our country.. Les say if it was just purely on economics are we sure this guy can do the job when he equate America with Russia..... What? Is this how he sees our great country? Things are not good but theyre not that bad either.... This guy doesnt have a clue and it will soon show....
Omar, whatever Mitt did to make his millions, it's a sure bet he will continue to do the same thing since he benefitted from it so greatly.
But, what Romney did was take over businesses, borrow tons of money under that business's name, layoff the workers, sieze their pension and retirement money, liquidate the company, shut it down, and ship those jobs overseas.
Romney - The JOBS CREMATOR
Name-calling is the last refuge of some poor soul who has no substantive rebuttal.
If you can't make an argument without resorting to name-calling, you need to sit down and shut up.
"[A] good moral character is the first essential in a man." --George Washington. In a morality contest, Romney beats Obama hands down.
"The main vice of capitalism is the uneven distribution of prosperity. The main vice of socialism is the even distribution of misery." --Sir Winston Churchill. Winnie has this right also. There are too many American citizens who are already too miserable and if we don't tackle the debt/deficeit/balanced budget issues, everyone will be miserable.
I am going to vote against every incumbent in November, from Obama on down. Congress has become a cesspool and the President needs to be replaced.
I think Powell understands that the Republican agenda is to make enemies and continue to have wars so that defence industry can keep sucking national resources and the Republicans can keep getting richer. Just like the Iraq war Bush got us into based on lies that Saddam had WMDs.
I hope the supreme court strike downsthe health care bill. That is when our people will understand the impact of not having the health care bill. It will also help the democrats recapture the house. Then they can pass the health care bill along with universal coverage. According to Republicans universal coverage is communism just like Canada and Europe are communists.
Good post.
Univeral health care hurts the Insurance Companies and Healt Care providers so it has Billions of dollars available to defeat it at the supreme court. The fact that the Supreme court is Republican is a very large hurdle to overcome.
I am assuming the Supreme Court will overturn the UHC law because they found that a Corporation was a person. How stupid can the court be? Well we now know.
Mitt is the man to lead, and get Jimmy carter out of office.
The only thing we really know about Romney is that he's a JOBS CREMATOR.
And all Republicans do is recite their talking points and repeat their hate speech.
Obama/Biden 2012
Thank you Colin, it's about time someone of REAL AUTHORITY spoke up for our illustrious President Obama! We, the 99% American People, realize how tough he has had it with corrupt Republican corporate political puppets just like exlax ETCH-A-SKETCH! The corrupt Republican corporates HAVE FORGOTTEN that it was the 99% American People that made their businesses successful! They have destroyed the 99% American People's way of life with their corrupt OIL & FINANCIAL corporates leading the way to economic failure here & brought on ECONOMIC GLOBAL COLLAPSE all because of CAPITALISTIC GREED with ZERO GOVERNMENT CONTROL over their corruption!
Thank you again for speaking out for our illustrious President, wish you could have politically joined him in the 99% American People's Revolt! We, the 99%, MUST VOTE & vote 100% STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC, the lives we save WILL be OURS & our CHILDREN!
The fact that Republicans are putting up this man, with no knowledge of foreign/Military matters, tells you he will simply be a puppet for McCain and the far right. If he wins, get ready for more wars.
I guess we Republicans forgot about Odumbo's extensive military background.
Odumbo has a brain and is a logical thinker. He understands people and how to communicate with them. He knew how to kill Osama Bin Laden without spending a Trillion dollars to do it and coming up with childlike mentality rhetoric like..."We'll Shock and Awe them!''
He isn't a dumb-ass like Romney to say something as stupid as... "The Soviet Union is our biggest geo-political foe" and put us back on an unstable hostile enviroment with them
What a f-ucking jerk and a clueless individual! A silver-spooned Jack-ass who never wanted for anything in his entire life.... an elevator for your car and knocking down a 5000 Square foot house to build a 10,000 square foot one.
Patheticallylaughable
"One of the GOP's foreign-policy heavyweights." Not since he stuck his head up Obama's a$$. Could it be that he's blinded by black like most all blacks are? What other factor could explain their overwhelming support of the POS?
And Republicans keep asking US to stop with the race-baiting but we still have to listen to schit like that?
I think Republicans KNOW they're gonna lose this one.
Obama/Biden 2012
And we care about what closet Democrat Powell thinks? Like he's always been right? Please. His comments about Romney are tainted by his racial preference on who he wants to be President. That's painfully obvious, just as it was in 2008.
And Republicans keep asking US to stop with the race-baiting but we still have to listen to schit like that?
I think Republicans KNOW they're gonna lose this one.
Obama/Biden 2012
I think the ex Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff and ex Secretary of state might take offence at you calling him a racist. A great American would be a better term.
I am starting to think that this polling business is much like the weather. Every body has at leat one opinion about what is going to happen.
Example; NBC Polls. One is called the Nbc/Marist Poll. For those who don't know what that means Marist is/was a Catholic College in New York. I am sure their polls reflect America's views and don't contain any Religious bias.
NBC Poll #2 NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll. I am sure this poll does not have any of the 1% views in the result.
The problem is these are both NBC Polls and have totlly different results.
Their is NO National Poll. There are 10 different major polls and 6 different minor polls.
You can see how the American People could get confused about the POLL numbers. Their are no numbers that mean anything. They all have some type of Bias.
Enjoy the election process but view it as The who is the biggest liar show. Don't believe any of the Poll numbers because they have been COOKED by some special interest group.
Powell warned Romney against hyperbole because not one politician in a million can use it effectively.
The General is a very capable and intelligent man. His point is well taken on Russia.
But there are a few holes in it. While Russia may not be a "pure competitor" to the U.S. right now they nonetheless could very well move back to the competitor they once where with Putin in charge - again - the result of a stolen election.
Take off the blinders and Putin is an old KGBer who longs for the good old days of oppression and land grabs within the borders of the old USSR and the Eastern Bloc countries they once enslaved behind and Iron Curtain.
Furthermore, General Powell, can you explain to me your President's abandonment of Poland and a few other Eastern Bloc countries with regard to missile defense? Do you think it unwise we provide them a deterrent since FDR screwed them once already at Yalta? Do we not owe them that?
The General, at 75, has obviously mellowed with age. I understand that. But it is not ridiculous to look at Putin and give back what you get which is a hard line stance.
Those citizens pessimistic about our economy should know that if we elect a republican, economic.... disaster.... will soon follow for most of us. Our monetary system needs rebuilt with more restrictions on its managers not more freedom. And accountability must be pinpointed to individuals not to the system in general. Otherwise, our monetary system will continue to be just a political mechanism for the Party currently in power.
If Mitt wins he'll spend the only four years of his presdency undoing what President Obama did to get America ahead. America isn't going backward we're moving forward. Yes We Can. Will Mitt win this year? No. 2016 is Mitt's presidential year but it will come at a price. He will have to pick Tom Pawlenty, as his running mate. If Gov. Pawlenty accepts, Mitt wins. If not, Mitt should move to Russia and start Gain Capital. The Reason I'm for Tom Pawlenty, he really helped the poor in Minnesota. He also balanced the Minnesota's budget before he left office. Mitt left a debt.
Ladies and gentlemen from the right and left have a great evening I didn't get a chance to respond to this article until today but it was interesting that General Powell is actually giving Mr. Romney a heads up and telling him to go study foreign affairs before he gets embarassed in the debates. It doesn't mean is he supports the President all day long either, itjust means if Mitt's going to have a chance he better be ready for all questions foreign or domestic.
agreed, but the issue I have is that Romney has been actively running for this office since 2007. Don't you think he would have read up before now?
Weak Willaed needs Condi rice more thsnshe needs him. His has foriegn policy spokeman was a closet gay who had evenless crediblity we the right than even Herbert Hoover..
And where are his ideas onthe Euro zone crisis. Last week BainCapital cashed outof a eupoean partnership thathad 62% of it's revenue from asia . That's how bad they think the Euro crisis is going to be-so bad thasteven witha stream of foreign revenue the companywon't make it.
No wonder there's dead silence in Romney ville.
Let's cite some figures from the London Economist May 21 Buttonwood foriegn bank depists down 64% in Greece;55%in Ireland; 39% in Portugal; 34% inItaly and 18% in Spain.
Where does Romney stand on this looming crisis?
.Here's Reuters May17:
With mostof Greece's trading partners have to take heavywritedowns ona part of the coutry's second 130 billion euro bail out, it is estimated that the ECB International Monetary fund and the theEuro zone nations hold about 200 billion of it's (greek) debt"
"Intheevent of an exist, the (greks) will default. And thie loss will, giventhe default be very high, high enough to eliminate ECB capital.
Traslated that means the Ero zone will be out of barrowing capital should any other countiry go down.
It doesn't get more serious than this!
As we noted above there is no other turning point. The withdawal have been so substatial by foreign makets-the outflows so great we are now looking at a general economiccollapse inslow motion.
Where's Romney?
Hey Colin, he IS thinking. He's thinking at least 60% of the electorate is made up of mouth breathing knuckle draggers which he assumes is his base, so he says things that they, being as stupid as they are, will believe. Now THAT's what you call strategy.....er....excuse me...PANDERING. You know, it's really the only thing Romney is really good at.
Powell to Romney on foreign policy: 'Come on, Mitt, think.'
Someone is going to have to sell him a cheat sheet. He has never had to think before, so he doesn't know how.
Sorry Mr. Powell, you lost Mitt Romney at "think." And his base loves the simplicity and Cold War nostalgia of again thinking that "the Russkies" are the great enemy of America (them and our first African-American president, apparently).
Powel is a true Gentleman. What he meant to say was "shut the f' up you moron. You want America to have NO FRIENDS IN THE WORLD???" Mitt has been a disaster on foreign policy from day one. If he becomes President we will be the laughing stock of the world and no-one will take us seriously.
I have nothing but respect for Colin Powell.
I have nothing but respect for General Collin Powell, and any candidate would do well to seek his input on Foreign Policy.