Gen. Powell passes away do to Covid complications. Having know the man in the military and later during civilian life he was one of the most honorable persons I have known. Although not always agreeing with him, I always respected him for the way he lead his life. He was a Republican for a long time, but changed to an Independent and supported the election of President Obama and took a lot of flack for doing that. One of his hobbies was working on his Volvo, when ask about this, he told people it kept him grounded. General rest in peace.
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Gen. Colin Powell Passes Away
- Thread starter JamesMike
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Agreed. Can't say I agreed with him on quite a few things, but he was a honorable man. May he rest in peace.
I lean to the left, but this is sad news. With exception of one mistake, he seemed principled, and that stands in stark contrast to many politicians today. The human cost of COVID just keeps rising. 
he was a main reason we went to war in Iraq on baseless claims and started a 20 year war that has resulted in eroding freedoms domestically and abroad, not to mention thousands of servicemen who lost their lives for a flawed cause.
no sympathy from me
no sympathy from me
Except for the United Nations debacle, he was highly principled with a flawless reputation. I don't blame him for the Irag War flag waving, as he was essentially directed to do that as a senior member of the administration at the time.
I lean to the left, but this is sad news. With exception of one mistake, he seemed principled, and that stands in stark contrast to many politicians today. The human cost of COVID just keeps rising.
Thanks for starting this thread, @JamesMike.
Personally, I have long admired, liked and respected Colin Powell; he was a decent, dignified, intelligent man of integrity and a superlative role model to African Americans and people of colour.
However, I agree with both @VulchR & @Richard8655 that his action (in the UN) on Iraq while Secretary of State - which he subsequently admitted was a mistake - was an egregious error in an otherwise distinguished career.
I don’t think that is accurate at all. Let’s not forget that Saddam Hussein wanted the world to believe that he had WMD, and that US intelligence was not the only government intelligence to conclude that he did. It was bad intelligence rather than General Powell that was the main reason for the flawed decision to make war in Iraq. Powell was a decent man who owned up to the catastrophic error of trusting that intelligence. May he Rest In Peace.
I think it is important to note as well that WMD were found in Iraq in technical violation of UN resolutions, but that they were leftovers from the Iraq-Iran war that were not properly disposed. Hussein had those weapons in the past and he had used them. Moreover, Syria consistently denied having WMD, just like Iraq, and yet it did, including ricin. The truth of things is always hard to uncover.
The US and other Western intelligence services guessed about Iraq and guessed wrong. I think Powell probably believed the intelligence findings, but is perhaps guilty of not having a healthier scepticism. He's not the only one. I fell for it hook, line, and sinker because of Hussein's past record of using WMD.
Yes. To err is human. There is a huge difference between a mistake (which Powell admitted) and a lie. Unfortunately, many do not undertstand the difference. He had a big position in government so his mistake was a big one that effected many people. But he always conducted himself with the utmost intergrity and I believe that he was a good person trying to do the right thing. RIP