The World According to Powell
It is always difficult to critique a man you respect, but having served in combat as a marine, both in Vietnam and the gulf war, I have sadly reached this conclusion with regard to Secretary Powell: good man, timid general; linear-thinking company man, always with a company plan. And, the crazy paradox of it all: if Paul Wolfowitz had worn the general's stars and Powell the statesmen's suit during the gulf war and beyond, we just may have precluded the Sept. 11 debacle. Great wartime leadership takes more than being the world's most popular man. When we need George Patton, we get Ike.
Joseph A. Conforti  South Easton, Mass.