CARL LEUBSDORF Powell not burning bridges on way out

To hear him tell it, Colin Powell is leaving the Bush administration with few regrets.
His controversial appearance before the United Nations, in which he made the case why action was necessary against Saddam Hussein, was neither an exaggeration nor a falsehood, though some of it turned out to be wrong.
As for the belief he opposed war with Iraq, there was "never any disagreement" with the decision to take military action, especially because President Bush took his advice to first pursue a diplomatic solution by going to the United Nations.
And the first term of the second President Bush is ending with vastly improved relations with such countries as Russia, China, India and Pakistan.
Indeed, Powell's message was almost totally positive as he reprised his tenure as the nation's 65th secretary of state at a lunch with several dozen Washington bureau chiefs and columnists.
A Bush loyalist to the core, he resisted several invitations to express unkind words about the president who decided, after winning re-election, that he no longer required the services of the man who had bolstered his foreign policy credibility in his first campaign.
Powell repeatedly soft-pedaled the notion that Bush's aggressive policies had caused strains with many countries including longtime U.S. allies, noting among other things that:
UAfter a tense start, "we have the best relationship with China that we've had in the last 30 years."
UHe sees "the same thing with Russia," despite considerable "churning" and some disagreements with President Vladimir Putin. There is no sign of Cold War-era "power centers that will be contending with each other on matters of war and peace."
U"We have, perhaps, the best relationship with India that we've had in many decades and the same thing with Pakistan." He had repeated praise for Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's cooperation in the war on terror.
UU.S. leadership often decried as unilateral has, in fact, mobilized a multilateral international effort to confront the nuclear proliferation threat from North Korea and Iran. "We've put a spotlight and a heat lamp on the Iranians that they will not easily dodge. Same thing with North Korea."
Seemingly forgotten were such personally damaging instances as the time early in the administration when Bush abruptly reversed Powell's day-old position toward North Korea.
Or the widespread belief that the administration took advantage of his reputation for integrity and moderation to make him the front man for justifying its already-made decision to reverse the policy of the first Bush administration and try to oust Saddam Hussein.
The only time Powell seemed awkward was in defending his February 2003 U.N. appearance. He flatly rejected a questioner's suggestion he made statements that turned out to be either "exaggerations or outright falsehoods."
His testimony reflected "the best information that the intelligence community had assembled," he said. "I didn't make it up in my office. I didn't write it late at night ... It was neither exaggerated nor false."
Disappointment
But he conceded he was disappointed that parts "turned out to be wrong" -- there was a failure to find stockpiled weapons of mass destruction or evidence mobile labs were used for biological weapons. "Of course I am, particularly since I get the finger for it," he said.
At one point, a reporter noted Powell's comments about prior presidents for whom he worked and asked his view of Bush. "I only describe them after I've left," he replied. But he went on to say that Bush "is a leader in the truest sense of the word" and, in particular, noted his "toughness."
In a day when top aides can't wait to tell their versions of inside events, regardless of whether it embarrasses their former bosses, he showed refreshing restraint.
Historians can hope Powell will ease that reticence if he writes a second volume of memoirs. After all, in his 1995 autobiography, he pointedly disputed recollections of former Vice President Dan Quayle. And he said that, while President Ronald Reagan was a visionary, "the president's passive management style placed a great burden on us."
But it's clear we shouldn't expect that sort of candor soon.
X Carl P. Leubsdorf is Washington bureau chief of the Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.