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Powell: Bush should talk with Syria, Iran as part of Iraq exit
ASPEN, Colo. — Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, long a defender of President Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, said last Thursday that the administration should be in talks with Syria and Iran as part of an overall strategy to reduce troop levels.
Even with 100,000 additional troops, Powell said it would be tough for the U.S. to continue its present mission in Iraq. Bush’s recent troop surge sent about 30,000 additional soldiers to Iraq.
Powell’s comments at the Aspen Ideas Festival followed a panel discussion with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., retired Army Gen. Jack Keane, and former Indiana congressman Lee Hamilton, co-chair of the Iraq Study Group.
The U.S. cannot “blow a whistle one morning and [have] all 180,000 American forces just leave,” Powell said, advocating a smaller U.S. force in Iraq, strategic redeployment of troops in the region and intense diplomatic efforts.
“I think we should be talking to Syria and Iran,” Powell said. “You have to talk to people you dislike most in this dangerous world.”
Powell’s benchmarks for U.S. troop reduction: An ineffective Iraq government unable to oversee the country and unabated violence between majority Shiite and minority Sunni Muslims.
Powell, who appeared before the United Nations shortly before the start of the March 2003 war to present the U.S. case for invasion, said he supported sending troops as the only sure way to remove Saddam Hussein from power. Powell said Saddam had the ability and intent to develop and use weapons of mass destruction.
“It was the lack of planning for these later phases and the things that got out of control that got us to this point,” he said.
Powell predicted that a lack of support for the war and political pressure will force Bush to “face the situation on the ground” and alter his policy by the end of 2007.
Politics aside, the volunteer army cannot maintain the existing presence in Iraq, according to Powell, a retired four-star general who also served as chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Essence Music Festival returns to New Orleans
NEW ORLEANS — The return of the three-day Essence Music Festival to New Orleans for the first time since Hurricane Katrina was “a homecoming, a reunion,” said Lionel Richie. He performed at the festival in 2005 — weeks before Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, flooding 80 percent of New Orleans — and again last weekend.
The festival, which ran July 5-7, had been held in New Orleans over the Fourth of July weekend since its launch in 1995. Last year it was moved to Texas because of Katrina.
Richie was among the dozens of hip-hop, R&B and gospel artists who performed this year.
“I would have played in New Orleans no matter what,” said Richie, who performed last Saturday, the festival’s closing day. “The incentive for coming is what the city is going through ... I can’t imagine a city with that much life in it dying.”
Among the others who performed this year: The O’Jays with Keith Sweat and Johnny Gill, Ludacris, Ciara, Beyonce, Robin Thicke, Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown and Kelly Rowland.
Besides the music, Essence hosted free daily “empowerment” seminars with top voices in the black community tackling social issues. For example, Public Enemy’s Chuck D, a rapper and hip-hop statesman, participated in a panel discussion on Saturday, and Democratic presidential hopeful Illinois Sen. Barack Obama appeared on the opening night of the festival.
The concerts were held at the Louisiana Superdome, while the empowerment seminars were held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.
The Superdome reopened in September 2006 after a $185 million renovation.
Essence recently agreed to a deal to keep the festival in the city through 2009.
Wisconsin fails to meet goal in hiring minority companies
MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin set goals 23 years ago for making purchases from minority-owned companies.
It hasn’t met them once in the ensuing decades.
The state’s goal in the fiscal year that ended Saturday was to make 5 percent of its purchases from minority-owned firms. It made 2.8 percent, spending $48.3 million.
Administration Secretary Michael Morgan, who took office this year, said the state is making “incremental progress” but needs to do more.
Tony Awofeso, who owns Total Hair and Beauty Supply of Appleton, said he joined the free state listing of minority-owned businesses late last year and submitted one bid, for the prison system. He didn’t receive a contract.
Awofeso described the state’s goal as attainable but said minority companies, especially small ones, may need help in developing competitive bids.
“[The state could] provide maybe additional information, maybe create some better opportunities so qualified minority [firms] are able to apply,” he said.
The amount of money the state spent with minority-owned firms increased from 2005 to 2006, but that’s probably because overall spending increased. The percentage of business given to minority companies remained about the same.
Only seven state agencies met or beat their goal for buying from minority-owned businesses in 2006. The leader was the Department of Financial Institutions, which gave 30.4 percent of its business to minority firms.
Thirty-nine agencies missed the mark last year, with 17 failing to buy anything from a minority company.
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