Obama Gets Thumbs Up From Colin Powell

Yesterday Colin Powell announced his endorsement of Senator Barack Obama for president. What a great gift to receive from the junior senator. Colin Powell is a very much admired military and political figure in the United States. Although I respect Colin Powell's choice of endorsement, I do have a feeling there could be more to this than meets the eye.

The reason I say this is due to Colin Powell's stance in Iraq. Colin Powell supported going into Iraq, while Barack Obama has clearly said many times that he was against it. Colin Powell has also acknowledged that the situation in Iraq has improved since the surge; another issue that Obama was against because he wanted to put a time table on surge funding or deny funding in total.

Colin Powell has stated that the initial entry into Iraq was a success and that it was after this initial entry that things did not go so well. I agree with Colin Powell on this issue, as the administration did not take many things into account and plan accordingly. I am also confident Donald Rumsfeld was not the best guy to work with as Secretary of Defense. Colin Powell eventually handed the reins of Secretary of State to Condoleezza Rice, who I believe has done a great job. It is also important to note that Condoleezza Rice has confirmed that you should never sit across the table in foreign matters without preconditions; I can only assume Colin Powell feels the same. This is also another matter Obama has stated is not necessary, even though those that held Secretary of State positions in the past support it.

The only thing that rings true to me that Colin Powell has stated in his endorsement of Obama is his ability to inspire and put a new spin on things. However, it troubles me that he would endorse the junior senator when they clearly would have gone head-to-head in issues pertaining to Iraq and foreign talk procedures. When I perceive such conflicts, I need to assume there is a little more going on behind the scenes. I am going to make a very bold jump and say I would not be surprised to see Colin Powell in Obama's cabinet, perhaps as Secretary of Defense, which would be very interesting indeed.

Time will tell if this will happen, but it does concern me when I see politicians flip-flop in order to get the job. Joe Biden has flip-flopped on a few of the issues he previously stood for, and now I see Colin Powell tilting the wheel. I am not sure if this will amount to anything for Colin Powell, but it will interesting to watch.