Ret. Army Gen. Colin Powell is a lustrous figure in American culture. Hero, statesmen, and military analyst - his reluctant use of military force was gleaned from personal experience after serving two tours in Vietnam. And his "break and it's yours" assessment of the Middle East, Iraq in particular, was based on his personal understanding of the political and cultural terrain of the region. He believed that Iraq was already in a protracted civil war, and the US should never risk becoming an occupier.

We probably will never know if Powell was used by the Bush Administration or if he willingly did the sell job to the public that he was asked to do. Either way, Powell compromised his credibility by promoting a less-than-factual account of Iraq's WMD's. His United Nations speech was widely viewed as the prelude to the war.

In the best post-Russert interview on NBC's Meet the Press so far, Powell gave his reasons yesterday for endorsing Senator Barack Obama for president. (See transcript here.)

Five years later, Powell broke ranks with his Republican Party and reached past his 30-year relationship with Senator John McCain to endorse Obama.

Powell said the things that many Americans have been saying without getting pulled into partisan politics.

Both men are presidential material, he said. But his observation of McCain during the last few weeks troubled Powell. McCain seemed erratic and unfocused in response to the financial crisis. And the campaign's reliance on negative ads and messages, particularly bringing up the William Ayers story and trying to link Obama by association to terrorist ideology, was wrong, Powell said.

He was not impressed with McCain's choice of Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, and ultimately came to see Obama as the transformational leader we need at this time.

But the most interesting point in the interview was Powell's reaction to the whisper campaign about Obama being a Muslim. This seemed to cast senior members of his party in a different, almost revelatory light.

"Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?" asked Powell. "The answer's no; that's not America."

But, sir, sadly, it often is.