Colin Powell sighting

Here is what Powell said on boycotting the Olympic opening ceremonies:

We always are aware and have been aware of Chinese human rights problems. And I think if you start to take this kind of action, it doesn't really serve the purpose of human rights. What is accomplished by boycotting the opening ceremony? I don't think that makes the situation any better. It probably makes the situation a little more difficult for the Chinese because they will pull back even more.

And this on sustaining Middle East military commitments:

The United States Armed Forces are very, very stretched. It appears that after the surge is over, we're going to go down to 140,000 troops in Iraq. That's 10,000 more than we had before the surge," Powell observed, reacting to the testimony Petraeus delivered over two days. "There is something of a continued surge there with that extra 10,000. And based on what Gen. Petraeus has said, he wants to let the surge troops go by July and then take 45 days to see what it looks like, and then begin a process of assessment. Well, that tells me that we know what the administration strategy is going to be through the end of the term of the administration. And that is, we're going to maintain a very significant presence. It's going to be far more than the 100,000 that Secretary [of Defense Robert] Gates was hoping for. It's going to be like 130,000 or 140,000. That is an extremely difficult burden for the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps, to keep up.

And this on the Obama/Wright kerfuffle:

Rev. Wright is also somebody who has made enormous contributions in his community and has turned a lot of lives around. And so, I have to put that in context with these very offensive comments that he made, which I reject out of hand. I think that Sen. Obama handled the issue well . . . he didn't look the other way. He didn't wait for the, for the, you know, for the storm to go over. He went on television, and I thought, gave a very, very thoughtful, direct speech. And he didn't abandon the minister who brought him closer to his faith.

(via Drudge)