Anyone who watched Tim Russert's interview with Colin Powell on Meet The Press and Russert's subsequent summary of it on NBC's Today Show could see that Russert cherry-picked Powell's words, then twisted them to fit an agenda.   Powell said:  

* that Saddam Hussein definitely had WMD during the Gulf War (when Powell served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) and used them  

* that Saddam Hussein had the capability to recreate his weapons program  

* that Saddam Hussein's quest for WMD was a threat to us in 2 ways   
     a) he would use them against us   
     b) terrorists would acquire them from Iraq and use them against us  

* that in the wake of 9/11, we were fearful of attacks to follow   * that Saddam Hussein was ignoring the UN resolutions  

* that George Bush DID go to the UN  

* that the UN was ineffective in dealing with Saddam Hussein  

* that if there were no WMD, he would not have gone to war, BUT a multitude of leaders believed Saddam Hussein had the weapons (including Powell himself)  

* that he (Powell) told Bush that if it came to war, he was behind him all the way  

* that he would close Guantanamo, then TRANSFER the prisoners to prisons within the US  

* that he had spoken to Obama and would speak with any candidate since he knows all of them    

On The Today Show Russert reported that Powell had said:  

* that he wouldn't have gone to war without WMD (period)  

* that he would close Guantanamo immediately (period)   

* that he had spoken with Obama (period)  

Russert reported on a FRACTION of what Colin Powell actually said. What he chose to omit was strikingly telling. As this spin increases, the trust in NBC decreases.   

Michael Wilson