Colin Powell is gunning for Cheney - Mike's wild-assed theory.

I thought I'd put this a bit more formally. I think that alot of the negative Cheney press is coming, indirectly from Colin Powell.

First the evidence.

1) Ten days ago, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, longtime chief of staff for Colin Powell until January, unleashes a scathing attack claiming a Cheney/Rumsfeld cabal which hijacked policy making, especially Iraq policy.

2) Due to be released Oct 31 but details leaking over the last week, Brent Scowcroft, a close friend of Powell's, puts out an interview in the New Yorker savaging the current Bush administration foreign policy focusing on Cheney, "I've known him for thirty years. But Dick Cheney I don't know anymore."

3) Then, Murray Waas piece in the National Journal comes out claiming that Cheney and Libby withheld information from the Senate Intel Committee regarding the questionable intelligence about WMD.

4) And Newsweek suddenly publishes an article painting Cheney as unwilling to give up on discredited intel relating to an Iraq/Al Qaeda connection titled "Fabricated Links."

Okay, so our first two pieces of evidence are blasts launched at Cheney from some very close, very long time friends of Powell's. The second two "leaked" stories required a leaker with access to highly classified information, access to the prewar deliberative process, and access to politically highly confidential drafts of a presidential speech. Not a lock, but Powell and his entourage certainly meet this description.

There are means and opportunity, now for motive. The most simple motive Powell would have for going after Cheney like this would be revenge for being set up before the UN. It appears now that alot of the lies that he repeated in front of the security council have their roots in the pre-war intel lies in which Cheney was deeply involved.

A second, more far fetched motive, I posted on out yesterday. I'm just gonna reprint it as is.

Let me just add that a contributory element to my Powell theory is the rumor I heard today that the three candidates to replace Cheney who are being discussed are Rice, McCain, and Powell. I know, Colin Powell going back into this administration would seem a strange political move, but he could go back as a reformer who is going to clean up the administration and take the party back from those extremists who took the country to war. Don't see how it's true, but that's what made me think of Colin Powell in the context of two of his close buddies (Wilkerson and Scowcroft) turning on Cheney and then the leaks in the next post for a one, two, three.

Also, if Colin Powell wanted to run for President, this move into the VP's office would give him the shoe in for the Republican nomination.

I don't know if I believe this second motive, it just seems too big, too Machiavellian, but I wanted to get it out there.

But I certainly do see Colin Powell's influence in all of these negative releases on Cheney.

Opinions?