General William E. Odom, RIP
What a privilege and honor it was to know William Eldridge Odom. After I'd resigned from the State Department we often found ourselves — for whatever reason, I don't know why — booked onto the same television shows to talk about the crisis in Yugoslavia. Usually to argue with each other but also sometimes to argue the same side. We respected each other. And we got to know each other outside the studio, mostly on a professional basis: he invited me a few times to luncheon discussions over at his Washington base at the Hudson Institute. Always subjects I knew nothing about, but interesting. And I can't remember now, but he may have come around to some of my events at the Carnegie Endowment (often very well attended). Though we were not especially close, I certainly thought of him as a friend.
It was characteristic of General Odom then, that when I asked him for an interview for Electric Politics — the first interview I ever did, actually, though for scheduling reasons it became EP's second show — he was willing to give his time, not to mention lend his considerable prestige, to a completely new and as yet unknown project, simply on the basis of our mutual respect and trust. For that I will be always grateful.
His was, I think, the most powerful voice arguing against the Iraq war and against its expansion into Iran. And he was unique: there's nobody out there who can take his place. Which is perhaps always the way it is when great men pass away before their time. If anyone can be, Bill Odom was greeted with the greatest respect and affection by a chorus of angels...
[Photo credit: Chad Evans Wyatt, with permission.]
Posted by George Kenney on June 2, 2008 12:45 AM 
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Comments
I remember him speaking out against the Iraq war before it started, bravely bucking the pro-war feeding frenzy, and I respected him for it. I took note that a Cold Warrior who had worked for Reagan could still be a perfectly honest and honorable man! We call these people 'professionals', and we need more of them!
Posted by: benjamin777
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June 2, 2008 12:43 PM