Colin Powell Invokes Image Of Fallen Soldier

Colin Powell has officially endorsed Barack Obama for President. But the big news is that this was not even his most important endorsement of the day. As it turns out, the most important thing endorsed by Colin Powell today was an America that's worth leading and worth fighting for, an America that encapsulates the idea of what some might call a "more perfect union." To that end, Powell invoked a picture to illustrate his point.

"Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That's not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that he is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel particularly strong about this because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay, was of a mother at Arlington Cemetery and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone, and it gave his awards - Purple Heart, Bronze Star - showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death, he was 20 years old. And then at the very top of the head stone, it didn't have a Christian cross. It didn't have a Star of David. It has a crescent and star of the Islamic faith.

And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he could serve his country and he gave his life."

This is the picture of Elsheba Khan, taken by Platon for the New Yorker:

So, yeah. Sometimes, America does benefit when we share our wealth with one another. And some people, in fact, do have it harder than Joe The Plumber.

Comments

[cjgnew]

May you rest in peace! And thank you for reminding us that it is truly our love of freedom and our respect for our Constitution that make us American, not religion or even where we were born. Thank you for your son's sacrifice. In his honor, we will continue the fight for a more perfect union. And, thanks to courageous men like him, we will continue to make progress towards a more perfect union.

Carlos Jean-Gilles
Saint Louis, MO

[shelaghryan]

I love this man, Colin Powell. And that mother, .........God bless her.

[POINT84]

most convincing endorsement ive heard to date.

[LeBeau59741]

Many years ago, I lived in a very bad neighborhood, alone, and it was a little scary.
Across the street was a small market, owned and operated by a large Muslim family, the youngest generation of which was US born, all the others were immigrants.
Having never known a Muslim, or anyone from the Middle East, for that matter, I was not quite sure at first how to deal with them (I was much more worried about offending their sensibilities, I had no notions about them at all, positive or negative, but knew that the Western standards of decent behavior for a woman are very different than the standards of their faith and of their homeland)
Time went by and they befriended me- If I failed to show up at the market 2 days in a row, someone would be on my doorstep to inquire, when I was down with the flu, the ladies brought me soup and one of the sons did a few chores- I ate their food and held their babies and wept with them when one of the great grandfathers died. And I learned that they are not so different and they learned that Western women were no less "decent" or "respectable" than their own daughters.
I moved, but continued to stop by now and then.

(continued in reply)

[LeBeau59741]

When that awful September day came, I had not seem them in months.
I made a special point, and a 50 mile drive, to buy a quart of milk I did not need because I needed to know that they were alright.
The picture windows were already shattered, the men (the same ones who had been shy, kind teenaged boys when I was their neighbor) were putting up plywood... This family had never, ever done a thing to earn mistrust but were attacked within hours of the tragic and shocking events of that morning.
I asked what I could do and with tears in her eyes, one of the wives who had fed me when I was sick and worried for me when I was absent and handed me her firstborn to cuddle, assured me that I was already doing more than she could ask just by coming to see them on this awful day.

These are the Muslims I know and I cannot believe that these lovely, gentle, hardworking people are some exception and the rest are very different.

[Bariis]

Most Muslims are gentle souls. It is the very bad few that have misrepresented them terribly and it's an unfortunate circumstance. Great story.

[krompessor]

LeBeau....God Bless you

[aflyinyoursoup]

LeBeau, your story brought tears to my eyes.....tears of both sadness and joy.
I am sad that we can be so cruel to our brothers and sisters merely because of insignificant cultural differences and yet your story brings joy because you have learned to see the reality of our "ONENESS" as human beings.
Thank you, friend.

[lisakaz2]

Great story. When I think of Middle Easter ppl, I think of the first one of American citizenship I met -- Maxwell Q Klinger on "M*A*S*H". Then I knew a girl in HS that was half Arab, half Filipino. That's when it hits me that ppl are ppl with their own cultures but still ppl.

[zeitgeist79]

The idea that there is some prototypical American is in contrast to the very ideals this nation was founded on. The one thing that makes us unique in the country is our diversity of ethnicity and background. We are all Americans and those are the ties that bind.

I am heartbroken to see this intolerant underbelly of our society gain such confidence as to rear its ugly head in mainstream political discourse. The Republican ticket has implicitly given license to the hatred that seeks to marginalize minority ethnicities and religions. What happened to valuing the diversity of this country the so-called "melting pot?" We cannot stand idly by and watch this fascist-type of thinking thrive in our society. We are better than this. We are Americans.

If John McCain truly put his "Country First" he would stand against this rhetoric and tell those people who think yelling hateful expressions at rallies is appropriate that he doesn't want their vote.

[Law35]

Wonderfully stated!! Thank you

[BlueStarMom]

My heart goes out to this courageous mother. I pray every day that my son never has one of these markers. If it ever came to pass, it would have a Star of David on it. I honor Kareem and his family and proudly stand with them in their grief.

It's time this nation awakened to the harsh realities of humanity... we have no choice but to come together in an effort to create "a more perfect" world and to fight the common enemies: climate change, poverty, water shortages, hunger, disease and ignorance.

I thank General Colin Powell for honoring Kareem's sacrifice in the condemnation of the hate and ignorance that most of us abhor.

[Inthematrix]

I loved when Powell brought this up during the interview. Propaganda has caused everyone to align being a Muslim with being a terrorist! I am glad he spoke up about it and let people know that their are many Muslims who are pro-America and are willing to give their lives for this country

inthematrix.wordpress.com

[Inthematrix]

I loved when Powell brought this up during the interview. Propaganda has caused everyone to align being a Muslim with being a terrorist! I am glad he spoke up about it and let people know that their are many Muslims who are pro-America and are willing to give their lives for this country.
www.inthematrix.wordpress.com

[jorge4u]

I do remember this picture. It was great then and still is.

[Khirad]

Why did it take this long for someone to say it? Sadly, we are a racist nation, it's just the shades that change. Even sadder is that it took someone of such unimpeachable character to say the painfully obvious. Since the Muslim accusations against Obama started, I've said, so what if he were?! Practically, I realize one needs to at least put on Christian airs, but the Constitution explicitly prohibits religious tests for office, as well as the First Amendment. I forgive McCain for not getting too in depth with his crowd when saying that Obama was not an Arab, but a good family man. All that said, The Daily Show did a great job at skewering that comment. The ignorance of these people! Is it elitist to expect people who claim not to be racist to be a little more subtle? Atheist, Agnostic, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Jew, ... Zoroastrian - we are all Americans! Arab, Persian, Samoan, whatever. I just hope these are the same people who would have never voted for Romney. Consistency is somewhat admired by me when it comes to hate, no matter how incoherent. I'm just glad there are people like Dr. James Zogby out there sticking up for the civil rights and respect of an unfairly maligned people.

[DrZee]

Colin Powell made me cry this morning. I watched his endorsement once, and then I called my husband to come in my office and I played it for him. Toward the end I glanced up at my husband who was standing behind my right shoulder as I sat in my swivel chair. He was wiping away tears.

To this completely unnecessary war, we have lost so many fine soldiers, so many amazing men and women. The Iraqis have lost an entire generation. Our nations now suffer from the insidious disease of hatred perpetrated by the germs of ignorance and intolerance -- both sides.

Colin Powell is probably the first member of his party to publicly announce the right answer to the "he's a Muslim" retort given by ignorant Americans. It's a free country. Surprisingly, they like to say that line a lot, so why don't they understand it?

I would hope those who are thinking, intelligent conservatives listened to Colin Powell's entire explanation of his endorsement. I would especially hope that EVERYONE who did listen, found the profound beauty in his words.

A little seven year old Muslim American boy or girl should be able to hope to become President of the United States. Or what is the American dream? And how bankrupt is that dream if we cannot give all children hope of a better tomorrow.

[KBOSTON]

I heard meet the press on the radio and when Colin Powell told this story I had chills... Its sad that being muslim in this country is somewhat of a stigma..........

[f4skyhawk]

I cry for this mother everytime I see this picture.... because it did not have to be......

John McCain - You can not have my son - never

Peace unto you and your son

[Brian Ross - Huffpost Blogger]

Powell is a decent man. A great American, even with his sale of the Iraq war to the world. I think he was given bad intel, personally. His comments were thoughtful, but his choice of the photo of the Muslim woman at her son's grave drove home the point that it's not just gun-toting Christian fundamentalists whose kids are in harm's way. Truly great.

[bluekatz]

Someone had to reveal the truth for the MAINSTREAM MEDIA refuse to do the job. All the MSM does it parrot and have little or no ability to do real news. I wish he would have done it sooner but I have to give him all the props for saying it.

[Lulliloo]

Hello Mr. Ross, HuffPost blogger. You are absolutely right. Bush, Cheney en co. set up Colin Powell by hiding vital intel reports about the unreliability of those sources. Please take this up in one of your blogs to set the record straight as I see many hateful things being said out of sheer ignorance of the facts about Colin Powell.

I've always admired Mr Powell's the depth and breadth of Mr. Powell's understanding of foreign policy, his steady, unemotional, clear, honest and wise judgement and abilities to lead. He is very highly regarded on the world stage as well.
I, like many of you were dismayed at the time by his presentation regarding the WMDs etc at the U.N. I could see that his heart was not in it.

I am also disgusted with the many shallow and ignorant comments at HufPost regarding Colin Powell, though I can understand the visceral reactions of people who do not know the facts behind that presentation. Mr. Powell was lied to and deceived by yet unspecified members of the intelligence community and those of the administration filtering the intelligence reports. Cheney anyone?

So before anyone goes trashing Mr. Powell and his endorsements I suggest you watch and listen to this excerpt at the Aspen Institute:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZTLmOoPzjs&feature=related

And for a greater appreciation of this great man, here is the entire interview at Aspen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZTLmOoPzjs&feature=related

[krompessor]

I agree, Powell probably feels guilty and is haunted daily about his statements he made at the UN. Wonder why he resigned from the Bush administration? I believe Powell was set up by Cheny and Rumsfeld. He was intentionally misled about Iraq's WMD's and imminent threat against the U.S. The UN needed convincing, and who better to send to talk to them? Powell, whose credibility with the UN was great at the time, unlike Cheny or even Bush for that matter. What did Powell do when when there was evidence of misleading intelligence from the "CIA" about the whole Iraq report? He did the right thing, as a great American with integrity, he resigned. And again as a great American, he's going against his own party,doing the right thing, and endorsing Obama.

P.S. And by speaking about the true American spirit, of which many in the media or in Washington never bring up, shows us all why it's wrong to secularize Muslims, shows us Muslim Americans have died for their country....again shows us furthermore why he's a great American with great integrity. Kudos Mr. Powell, I forgive you for Iraq.