I think that it is presumptuous for anyone to explain Powell's rationale for endorsing Barack Obama simply as either racial bias, or the settling a political score with the Bush Administration.
Taking great care to stress his admiration for John McCain, Powell trained the focus of his criticism of McCain's candidacy chiefly on the divisive tactics employed by his campaign, and his choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate.
As Powell stated yesterday, if the counter-argument is that he chose to endorse Obama solely because of race, then he had no reason to wait for as long as he did before announcing his decision.
Furthermore, I trust Powell when he said that he initially believed Iraq was a threat.
That is not to suggest he advocated for going to war with the same zeal as Vice President Cheney and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld.
By all accounts, Powell strongly favored diplomacy as a means to address the perceived dangers that Iraq posed.
Colin Powell has a long and distinguished career of public service. As grave an error as it proved to be, he should neither be branded as deceitful nor disloyal to the American people for lending his support to President Bush as Secretary of State.
Robin Cook he is not, but certainly he is deserving of the respect amongst the public that he commands.
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