Colin Powell dies, trailblazing general stained by Iraq

By ROBERT BURNS, ERIC TUCKER and EILEEN PUTMAN

WASHINGTON (AP) — Colin Powell, the trailblazing worker and diplomat whose sterling estimation of work to Republican and Democratic presidents was stained by his faulty claims to warrant the 2003 U.S. warfare successful Iraq, died Monday of COVID-19 complications. He was 84.

A seasoned of the Vietnam War, Powell spent 35 years successful the Army and roseate to the fertile of four-star wide earlier becoming the archetypal Black president of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His oversight of the U.S. penetration of Kuwait to oust the Iraqi service successful 1991 made him a household name, prompting speculation for astir a decennary that helium mightiness tally for president, a people helium yet decided against.

He alternatively joined President George W. Bush’s medication successful 2001 arsenic caput of state, the archetypal Black idiosyncratic to correspond the U.S. authorities connected the satellite stage. Powell’s tenure, however, was marred by his 2003 code to the United Nations Security Council successful which helium cited faulty accusation to assertion that Saddam Hussein had secretly stashed weapons of wide destruction. Such weapons ne'er materialized, and though the Iraqi person was removed, the warfare devolved into years of subject and humanitarian losses.

Powell was afloat vaccinated against the coronavirus, his household said. But helium faced respective ailments, telling Washington Post writer Bob Woodward implicit the summertime that helium had Parkinson’s disease. Powell’s longtime aide, Peggy Cifrino, said Monday that helium was besides treated implicit the past fewer years for aggregate myeloma, a humor crab that impairs the body’s quality to combat infection. Studies person shown that those crab patients don’t get arsenic overmuch extortion from the COVID-19 vaccines arsenic healthier people.

In a Washington wherever partisan divisions tally deep, Democrats and Republicans recalled Powell fondly. Flags were ordered lowered astatine authorities buildings, including the White House, Pentagon and State Department.

President Joe Biden said Powell “embodied the highest ideals of some warrior and diplomat.”

Noting Powell’s emergence from a puerility successful a fraying New York City neighborhood, Biden said: “He believed successful the committedness of America due to the fact that helium lived it. And helium devoted overmuch of his beingness to making that committedness a world for truthful galore others.”

Powell’s clip arsenic caput of authorities was mostly defined by the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, panic attacks. He was the archetypal American authoritative to publically blasted Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network. He made a lightning travel to Pakistan to request that then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf cooperate with the United States successful going aft the Afghanistan-based group, which besides had a beingness successful Pakistan, wherever bin Laden was aboriginal killed.

But arsenic the propulsion for warfare successful Iraq deepened, Powell sometimes recovered himself astatine likelihood with different cardinal figures successful the Bush administration, including Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Rumsfeld besides died this year.

Powell’s State Department was dubious of the subject and quality communities’ condemnation that Saddam possessed oregon was processing weapons of wide destruction. But helium presented the administration’s lawsuit that Saddam posed a large determination and planetary menace successful a beardown code to the U.N. Security Council successful February 2003. The pursuing month, Bush gave the go-ahead for the invasion.

The U.N. speech, implicit with Powell’s show of a vial of what helium said could person been a biologic weapon, was seen arsenic a debased constituent successful his career, though helium had removed immoderate elements from the remarks that helium deemed to person been based connected mediocre quality assessments.

The U.S. overthrow of Saddam ended the regularisation of a brutal dictator. But the powerfulness vacuum and lawlessness that followed unleashed years of sectarian warring and chaos that killed countless Iraqi civilians, sparked a lengthy insurgency, and unintentionally tilted the equilibrium of powerfulness successful the Middle East toward a U.S. rival, Iran. No Iraqi weapons of wide demolition were ever found.

Still, Powell maintained successful a 2012 interrogation with The Associated Press that connected balance, the U.S. succeeded successful Iraq.

“I deliberation we had a batch of successes,” helium said. “Iraq’s unspeakable dictator is gone.”

Saddam was captured by U.S. forces portion hiding retired successful bluish Iraq successful December 2003 and was aboriginal executed by the Iraqi government. But the warfare dragged on. President Barack Obama pulled U.S. troops retired of Iraq successful 2011, but helium sent advisers backmost successful 2014 aft the Islamic State radical swept into the state from Syria and captured ample swaths of territory.

Bush said Monday that helium and erstwhile archetypal woman Laura Bush were “deeply saddened” by Powell’s death.

“He was a large nationalist servant” and “widely respected astatine location and abroad,” Bush said. “And astir important, Colin was a household antheral and a friend. Laura and I nonstop Alma and their children our sincere condolences arsenic they retrieve the beingness of a large man.”

Condoleezza Rice, Powell’s successor astatine State and the department’s archetypal Black pistillate secretary, praised him arsenic “a trusted workfellow and a beloved person done immoderate precise challenging times.”

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, a retired Army wide and the archetypal Black Pentagon chief, said the quality of Powell’s decease near “a spread successful my heart.”

“The satellite mislaid 1 of the top leaders that we person ever witnessed,” Austin said portion traveling successful Europe.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the highest ranking Black pistillate successful U.S. history, besides noted Powell’s radical firsts.

“Every measurement of the way, erstwhile helium filled those roles, helium was by everything that helium did and the mode helium did it, inspiring truthful galore people,” she said. “Young servicemembers and others not lone wrong the military, but successful our federation and astir the globe, took announcement of what his accomplishments meant arsenic a reflection of who we are arsenic a nation.”

No kid of privilege, Powell often framed his biography arsenic an American occurrence story.

“Mine is the communicative of a achromatic kid of nary aboriginal committedness from an migrant household of constricted means who was raised successful the South Bronx,” helium wrote successful his 1995 autobiography “My American Journey.”

It’s an acquisition helium was fond of recalling aboriginal successful his life. When helium appeared astatine the United Nations, adjacent during his Iraq speech, helium often reminisced astir his puerility successful New York City, wherever helium grew up the kid of Jamaican immigrants and got 1 of his archetypal jobs astatine the Pepsi-Cola bottling works straight crossed the East River from the U.N. headquarters.

Powell’s way toward the subject began astatine City College, wherever discovered the ROTC. When helium enactment connected his archetypal uniform, helium wrote, “I liked what I saw.”

He joined the Army and successful 1962 helium was 1 of much than 16,000 subject advisers sent to South Vietnam by President John F. Kennedy. A bid of promotions led to the Pentagon and duty arsenic a subject adjunct to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, who became his unofficial sponsor. He aboriginal became commandant of the Army’s 5th Corps successful Germany and aboriginal was nationalist information adjunct to President Ronald Reagan.

During his word arsenic Joint Chiefs chairman, his attack to warfare became known arsenic the Powell Doctrine, which held that the United States should lone perpetrate forces successful a struggle if it has wide and achievable objectives with nationalist support, capable firepower and a strategy for ending the war.

Though helium gained nationalist prominence nether Republican presidents, Powell yet moved distant from the party.

He endorsed Democrats successful the past 4 statesmanlike elections, starting with Obama. He emerged arsenic a vocal Donald Trump professional successful caller years, describing Trump arsenic “a nationalist disgrace” who should person been removed from bureau done impeachment.

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Associated Press writer Steve Peoples and AP Medical Writer Lauran Neergaard contributed to this report.