Colin Powell says Georgia provoked Russian crisis, hints McCain’s response was hasty, reckless

Looks like Powell is trying to redeem himself after leading us into an unnecessary war on the word of a lying dictator and his criminal cabal.  Good for him.

On CNN Sunday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell offered some “straight-talk” on the Georgia/Russia conflict, and not-so-subtly insinuated that McCain’s rather belligerent response was careless and unnecessarily provocative.

 Download | Play   Download | Play  (h/t Heather)

POWELL: And I think it was foolhardy on the part of President Saakashvili and the Georgian government to kick over this can, to light a match in a roomful of gas fumes.

SESNO: So you’re saying the Georgians provoked this?

POWELL: They did. I mean, there was a lot of reasons to have provocations in the area, but the match that started the conflagration was from the Georgian side.

AMANPOUR: And yet…

POWELL: And that’s a given.

AMANPOUR: And some debate in the presidential elections has basically been, “We are all Georgians now.” What does that mean? It’s the same as was said after 9/11.

POWELL: One candidate said that, and I’ll let the candidate explain it for himself. […]  You have to be very careful in a situation like this not just to leap to one side or the other until you’ve taken a good analysis of the whole situation.

If I were a betting man, I would wager that Powell will throw his support behind Obama. Powell is rightfully criticized for pushing the administration’s bogus case for war with Iraq, but there’s no denying he is a respected voice of foreign affairs.  The message an Obama endorsement would send would be a huge blow to McCain.

Crooks and Liars » Colin Powell says Georgia provoked Russian crisis, hints McCain’s response was hasty, reckless