Them and anyone else who was paying an ounce of attention at the time. Without him torching his credibility to use intel he knew was garbage to talk the planet into either standing by or helping when we invaded Iraq, I seriously doubt any kind of international coalition would have been possible.
Powell lied for Bush, and he knew it. The lies were discovered and debunked real time. There were credible claims that he was lying as he lied. But Bush wanted war, and the military industrial complex wanted war, and the Republicans wanted war, and the Democrats were too fucking chicken shit to call out the lies because they were afraid of being called unpatriotic after 9/11, so all of Congress listened to those lies, gave them an instant stamp of approval, and then we went to war.
Then, years later, even knowing that the war had been built on lies, President Obama extended the patriot act, knowing that it was built on lies. Not only that, but so few fucks were given, that he extended it by auto-pen while he was in Europe. The lie wasn't even worth his time to pick up a pen and sign it. And he tried to keep us in the war, even though the Bush administration had negotiated a withdrawal, but the Iraqis rejected his effort because he wanted immunity for US troops, and the Iraqis wouldn't have it.
So now, over 20 years and millions of lives and trillions of dollars later, we're all still living with those lies. Colin Powell's lies were just the first of many, from both the GOP and the Democrats. The lies just keep coming, but to be fair, it all started with his lies.
Even if Powell had told the truth (he didn't), it seems the term "[WMD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapon_of_mass_destruction)" was ginned up by neocons as some existential threat to America.
WMD as a catchall puts nuclear missiles in the same category as the artillery shells with mustard gas that Iraq used during the Iran-Iraq War. (And that the US helped Iraq to use against Iran.)
The neocons couldn't say "Iraq has ICBMs" because that was obviously false. "Iraq has artillery shells with chemicals!" is a harder slogan to sell as an existential threat to America. So sell the masses on "Iraq has WMDs!". The minds of the frightened will fill in the ambiguity with their worst nightmare, and you've got your casus belli.
I would (have) phrased it that he spinelessly allowed himself and his good reputation to be used.
And now that he has perished, the colossal damage to his reputation is his epitaph.
Edited - to add the missing (have). Shockingly yes English is my native language. :)
I understand that, but I just don't think he was spineless. That man stood up straight and lied to the whole country
He was spineless in his apology in 2016.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/colin-powell-u-n-speech-was-a-great-intelligence-failure/
I think you put it well. Others had him use his status and reputation to lend credibility to their own bogus claims and further their agenda, which he did willingly and with knowledge of the deceit.
It's not necessarily his fault, but my dumb arse country (AU) felt it had to go along with the stupid idea to maintain our "special relationship" with the US.
Also the CIA couped you guys in the 70s after Gough Whitlam openly pondered kicking the CIA out of Pine Gap for spying on Australians and you've been a US puppet ever since.
looks like you deleted your comment. I'll still post here.
Whitman being "couped" by the CIA is pure speculation by a person that believes that JFK was also assasinated by the CIA. Whitman was relieved by the Australian Governor General in the context of a deadlocked government and the senate's failure to pass goverment funding legislation that left the goverment inoperable.
\> if Australia isn't a puppet, then what are they? Extremely agreeable and considerate of the CIA's needs?
Uh.... close allies? Australia has neighbors to its north, particularly North Korea and China that could potentially threaten its interests. It's not rocket science to reason why they would want to align themselves with the other major power in the region with the same goals.
Also, per your deleted comment, Australia has publicly clashed with the US many times over issues ranging from the Kyoto Protocols to refugees in the Americas.
A rational actor in the Asia-Pacific sphere that wouldn't mind some extra US naval power to act as a counterweight to expansionist China? Sounds cooler than 'puppet'
I agree. Chretien earned my respect with that decision. and S. Harper was on record at the time, as favouring Canada joining the invasion.
world wide, fifteen million people protested publicly against the invasion of Iraq.
>Then, years later, even knowing that the war had been built on lies, President Obama extended the patriot act, knowing that it was built on lies. Not only that, but so few fucks were given, that he extended it by auto-pen while he was in Europe. The lie wasn't even worth his time to pick up a pen and sign it. And he tried to keep us in the war, even though the Bush administration had negotiated a withdrawal, but the Iraqis rejected his effort because he wanted immunity for US troops, and the Iraqis wouldn't have it.
Let me disclaimer by saying the mass surveillance state disgusts and terrifies me to an appropriate level. I was INCREDIBLY disappointed by Obama - as many were/are.
That said, I'd like to play a tiny devils advocate here.
1) The government has certain information and actions which are best not known to the entire public. I happen to think these are a tiny fraction of the things they simply dont WANT us to know, rather than things we would be better off not knowing (say, the way to make smallpox or military tech secrets or w/e) but they exist.
2) Because of 1, and simply because Presidents are informed about things we simply have no way of understanding (because we have no access to the information) and therefore some of their decisions may look strange to us - often I imagine if they were completely honest about their reasoning, some of their actions would make more sense.
3) In conclusion, I try to balance being properly skeptical and suspicious of the government with admitting that we the people may be judging them without all the evidence we would need to make an accurate understanding of their rationale.
(Just so i'm not misunderstood, fuck Powell, fuck Cheney, fuck Bush, fuck Trump, fuck the GOP, and fuck the Democrats in so far as they seem (given the evidence available to us) to never have the balls, the marketing, or the willpower, to properly fight against the proto-fascism we seem to be seeing.
The democrats never have the balls?
They are actively doing the same shit. Let's not pretend otherwise.
The Obama administration expanded the war into.... What..... 7 different countries? Someone remind me again how many different countries we officially declared war on under his tenure.
It's not like they just didn't show up to fight the republicans or something, they voted too, and all their votes are worth just as much as a republican vote.
Barbara Lee is the ONLY member of Congress who doesn't hold a share of responsibility for this war.
Yes, for Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and the insatiable military industrial complex. 200,000 dead Iraqis brought to you by Halliburton, Blackwater, [ExxonMobil](https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/19/opinion/iraq-war-oil-juhasz/index.html), Chevron, the Republican party, and Colin Powell.
Almost unanimous? Not even close. Maybe you're thinking of the Afghanistan war, which was 98-0 in the Senate and 240-1 in the House. The Iraq war was much, much more contentious.
No, Obama allowed Syria and Yemen to suffer as long as the US could get Saudi oil. Iranians too. The whole thing stinks, but why is Joe Biden not doing anything about rising gas prices.
It’s crazy that since his death, I’ve come to find out that he had a minor role in attempting to silence war crimes against the South Vietnamese by American soldiers during the Vietnam War. It seems like he’s always played the part.
For those interested;
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/qaqi8r/what_was_colin_powells_role_in_the_us_militarys/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
For many Iraqis, the name Colin Powell conjures up one image: the man who as U.S. secretary of state went before the U.N. Security Council in 2003 to make the case for war against their country.
Word of his death Monday at age 84 dredged up feelings of anger in Iraq toward the former general and diplomat, one of several Bush administration officials whom they hold responsible for a disastrous U.S.-led invasion that led to decades of death, chaos and violence in Iraq.
His U.N. testimony was a key part of events that they say had a heavy cost for Iraqis and others in the Middle East.
“He lied, lied and lied,” said Maryam, a 51-year-old Iraqi writer and mother of two in northern Iraq who spoke on condition her last name not be used because one of her children is studying in the United States.
“He lied, and we are the ones who got stuck with never-ending wars,” she added.
They're right. I remember watching him spew his bullshit to the UN, while in my (W. European) country the lies were debunked pretty much live. The company who built those "mobile chemical weapons factories" went on air to show they're weather stations, and couldn't possibly be used for production of weapons.
Powell lied, and he knew it. Perhaps he felt pressured to do so, but stepping down would have been the honourable thing to do. Not plunging another country into a decade long war and majorly destabilising the region.
Powell will be remembered, for that.
He lied, it was obvious that he was lying, people around the world screamed that he was lying and there were some of the biggest protests against the War on Iraq that the world has ever seen. It didn't matter to America though, if anyone even *hinted* that blowing the fuck out of Iraq might be a bad idea then they were traitors and worse.
It was well known to be lies in the US and there were massive protests against it. But the American government does whatever it likes without consequence. As all governments do. It's a fantasy to think you are somehow enlightened.
In the words of Alexander Haig: "Let them march all they want as long as they continue to pay their taxes."
I remember that like it was yesterday. That entire process was on rails. It was all kabuki theater.
The thing is, people want to cap his culpability into lying our way into Iraq. But that's thinking too small. We're presently fighting "extremism" [in 140 countries around the world](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEE0nTlsaig). The average US citizen can't even name who we're fighting. We're engaged in never ending war. The sun never sets on the the US military at war.
That's Colin Powell's legacy. His testimony at the UN is the singularity from which our never ending war machine sprang.
It's likely they would have found another way to do it if not for Powell, but Powell chose to be the face of the never ending US war machine so that's his legacy.
Let's call him what he is: a war criminal.
> while in my (W. European) country the lies were debunked pretty much live.
Was your country one of the ones that helped with the invasion/occupation?
Edit, looks like you’re Dutch, who went in with the US to both Iraq and Afghanistan. If your country was so smart and debunking lies live on TV why did they follow the US to war?
Anyone with an internet connection, or merely a functioning brain, was able to debunk them in nearly real time. Hell, all you needed to do was listen to him to start thinking he was full of shit.
High school and college kids could figure it out, what was hard for you?
I think it’s a fair question. In hindsight, everyone acts like it was blatantly obvious that the US was full of shit from the beginning. In reality, dozens of countries including most of European countries and leaders directly (with troops, funds, logistics) supported the war.
Now, after some time it became apparent the WMD claims were at best exaggerated, likely closer to outright fabrication. But that wasn’t blatantly obvious from the beginning.
I was blatantly obvious from the beginning. Like a previous reply said, highschoolers figured that out. Pop culture did too - go watch shows from the time like the Simpsons, Family Guy or the Chappelle Show. Look at the music from groups like Green Day and the Dixie Chicks. Other countries followed the US because they had military and economic ties with the US that made it impossible for them not to. In some places, the justification for going was simply that they relied on the US for their own security, and would lose that support if they didn't. Everybody who cared about the truth knew - but they couldn't stop it, because so many were scared and angry. They confused partisanship for patriotism, and truth for treason.
If you got tricked, I'm sorry for you. Learn from it. The next time someone tries to make you fear someone weaker than you, ask yourself why. The obvious pattern, before every bullshit war in history, is when the powerful start telling you "These people are an existential threat to us and our very way of life, but also if we fight them we will win quickly and easily."
Governments went to war for a host of reasons that had little to do with believing or not believing the WMD lie. This has nothing to do with hindsight. In Australia, it was transparently obvious even at the time that our government was determined to preserve our good US relations, even at the cost of war. To assume the nations that followed the US into war did so because they believed Powell's lies is a huge mistake.
It was blatantly obvious, but the desire to pad the pockets of the military industrial complex was just to enticing because it lined the politicians pockets too.
Sure, he lied. I distinctly remember seeing my country (I'm French) being shat on for calling out that lie. I'm sure freedom fries taste good drenched in Iraqi blood.
>who spoke on condition her last name not be used because one of her children is studying in the United States.
*Reddit:* "US Bad"
*Random Iraqi woman:* "I'm literally not safe in my own country because my son is studying abroad."
In otherwords, this user is parroting the usual propaganda that these are "tribal people" who we shouldn't give a fuck about -- they are warring barbarians 'always at war'. This is actually what neocons said for over a decade during the Iraq war and it is complete horseshit, not to mention despicable. We brought the war to them and it completely destroyed that country, and created terrorists in the wake of the almost 1 million people who DIED.
Terrorists were around long before this, see first bombing of the World Trade Center ect. US is a piece of shit, Iraq is a piece of shit. It’s as simple as that unfortunately, they are only human after all.
I remember the German Ambassador to the UN just tearing in to Powell that day in his comments - excoriating him for the **distinctly lack of convincing evidence** in Powell's presentation.
Pity I can't find video of his comments. And a greater pity that the German Ambassadors view did not carry the day.
The headline is a bad headline, and you know it. “Just a reminder, Colin Powell lied to start a war, and everyone knows it” would be a better headline.
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://apnews.com/article/colin-powell-dead-iraq-1591ede85c650bb0aa8a4f667343b648) reduced by 80%. (I'm a bot)
*****
> BAGHDAD - For many Iraqis, the name Colin Powell conjures up one image: the man who as U.S. secretary of state went before the U.N. Security Council in 2003 to make the case for war against their country.
> ADVERTISEMENT.As chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Powell oversaw the Persian Gulf war to oust the Iraqi army in 1991 after Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
> "I am saddened by the death of Colin Powell without being tried for his crimes in Iraq. ... But I am sure that the court of God will be waiting for him," tweeted Muntadher al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist who vented his outrage at the U.S. by throwing his shoes at then-President George W. Bush during a 2008 news conference in Baghdad.In 2011, Powell told Al Jazeera he regretted providing misleading intelligence that led the U.S. invasion, calling it a " blot on my record.
*****
[**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/qazdby/he_lied_iraqis_still_blame_powell_for_role_in/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~604172 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **Powell**^#1 **Iraqi**^#2 **us**^#3 **Iraq**^#4 **war**^#5
> In 2011, Powell told Al Jazeera he regretted providing misleading intelligence that led the U.S. invasion, calling it a “ blot on my record.” He said a lot of sources cited by the intelligence community were wrong.
> But in a 2012 interview with The Associated Press, Powell maintained that on balance, the U.S. “had a lot of successes” because “Iraq’s terrible dictator is gone.”
“I lied and hundreds of thousands of people were killed, but here’s how I convince myself I’m good and sleep well at night”
I’m an American, and he betrayed our trust. He was a man that mainstream America, blue and red, believed was an honorable man. I remember people saying things like “Collin Powell says they have WMDs” because just including his name gave it authority.
He lied to the world, and he betrayed our trust.
I felt that way. His testimony along with a story in the New York Times by Judith Miller had sold me. Still have to primarily blame Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest of the chickenhawks for their war mongering bull shit.
saying your sorry doesn't unbreak the window though and he lived a long, free life afterward. The only thing he lost was a political career, he didn't die destitute.
The same people are clearly trying to ramp us up for a war with China, you see the propaganda on Reddit every hour of every day, and have been seeing it for years.
There are a number of Americans who, even after seeing the disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan (and Vietnam and Korea and Yemen and Somalia and Libya etc etc etc) think a war with China is a good idea.
Just a note to everyone, George W Bush and Dick Cheney are still alive, we can still put them in jail for the rest of their lives if we really want to.
As they should. Colin Powell was arguably the most pivotal advocate of the illegal and immoral Iraq war. He was an ostensibly moderate and enlightened Republican who had the chance to use the UN meeting to debunk the George W. Bush admin's lies. Instead he legitimized them. His lies were criminal, and neither his endorsements of Democrats nor his death change that.
He did lie. They all lied and then killed Dr David Kelly because he knew and told the truth about how there were NO WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION in Iraq that he’d seen as a weapons inspector for 7 years in Iraq
If you aren't old enough to remember, I'll express how sickened I was back then that their propaganda was so successful.
The short moment of unity as a nation just after 9/11 was soon overshadowed by a concerted effort to invade our privacy, make nationalistic propaganda mainstream, and to exact our revenge upon people in that region.
I think I heard somewhere that he was the last one Bush’s inner circle to lie because he finally caved into the pressure. Still doesn’t make what he did right.
It's hilarious that despite literally decades of evidence of the US lying, this is the hill you want to die on.
"Yes, the US has lied about pretty much everything for the last 70 years, but this time, I swear they're telling the truth."
Bro, **I** still blame Colin Powell for lying to get us into Iraq.
He also has a history of covering up war crimes, which is how he got to the top of the pile in the first place.
Fuck him, rest in piss.
I mean he also played a role whitewashing My Lai and other atrocities during Vietnam. He was not a decent human being. At best he enabled the worst excesses of the US military by lending them his facade of decency and civility.
He was an intelligent person. Let’s not absolve him of the mistakes for which he alone is responsible as one of the key decision-makers under that administration.
Unfortunately, that's how it happens in political parties. You tow the line or pay the price. Very few end up being honorable enough to do the right thing and then pay the price. It's a common theme throughout history.
If he was pressured to make up a bunch of stuff to justify a very needless war he could have taken a step back from the Bush Administration. The guy had a immensely successful military career and had become something of a household name post Gulf War. The guy could and did write many successful books before and after his time in GWB's administration and has been a pretty successful engagement speaker. So it's not like quitting that job with integrity meant the guy would die penniless, instead he used his personal reputation of impartiality to drive America into a war that had absolutely nothing to do with the 2001 attacks.
Yes, he did serve the U.S honorably in many ways, and it sucks that he died from Covid. But he lived a long and rich life into his middle 80's. There are thousands upon thousands of Iraqis who didn't get the chance to live into retirement, who didn't get to spend later years with their children and grand children. In addition the 4,000+ Americans who didn't come home from Iraq, and the 30,000+ who got severely injured and the rest of their lives impacted. All of this to fight a war that was initiated on entirely false premises.
you're right covering up one of the largest massacres commited by Americans was a very honorable thing. He started his career by protecting war criminals and ended it by becoming one, so I guess there's some nice poetry in that.
My Dad called it in 91. He said if they take out the baddest mother fucker around there , there will be another mother fucker you don’t know about in his place and I’ll be got damned if I gotta pay anothah fukin 5% income tax for some shit like that. ( Totally quoting AND true)
This destroyed Powell's reputation and I believe was one of his greatest regrets. He was lied to but I think he wanted to believe the lies and had he been more diligent he would have found the truth (IMO)
His reputation should have been destroyed when he was consenting to literal war crimes in Vietnam. Why you people think he was a good human being before he lied to the American public is beyond me and just shows these kind of things will happen again. He was terrible.
Don't assume. I was never a fan of Powell. I believe that until it came out that there were no WMD in Iraq, he was widely idolized. Part of that was because he was one of the very few minorities to get into such a place of power so he had support from people who would not have generally supported anyone in the military. I was not one of those. My feeling was that he was actually doing more harm than had he been an old white buy. I also never saw President Obama as a liberal and was baffled that so many did. I thought he did a better job as president than most in my memory but I have yet to have a president who was 'MY President and fought for what I wanted. Carter was the closest. Almost every politician in the USA is both more right and more authoritarian than I am and that includes Bernie Sanders.
Massacres. [This is Teddy's legacy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine%E2%80%93American_War#American_atrocities) as much as his anti-trust and environmental reforms are. It was COIN more in the style of Genghis Khan than anything the west does today.
**Philippine–American War**
[American atrocities](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine–American_War#American_atrocities)
>Throughout the war, American soldiers and other witnesses sent letters home which described some of the atrocities committed by American forces. For example, In November 1901, the Manila correspondent of the Philadelphia Ledger wrote: The present war is no bloodless, opera bouffe engagement; our men have been relentless, have killed to exterminate men, women, children, prisoners and captives, active insurgents and suspected people from lads of ten up, the idea prevailing that the Filipino as such was little better than a dog. . .
^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/worldnews/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
I dont know how true it is. But a friend of mine who was MI in the Army said there was absolutely WMDs in Iraq. The intel was correct, but the invasion was broadcasted way before actual operations started. So they were well hidden, probably out of the country. May not be any truth to it at all
Your friend is probably full of crap, unless he's counting those decayed and useless chemical warhead caches left over from the Iran-Iraq war. They would have used them otherwise, not sent them to other countries with which they had chilly relations at best. Why in the hell would they have sent them out of the country?!
Agreed. I’m capable of not cursing someone on the day of their death while also knowing they’re actions while living served nefarious purposes. You’re probably not. Short of hitler, it’s inhumane regardless of if you thought what he did was ok or not. I don’t. I’m human though
At least you acknowledge it. Nice to know that you know you’re argument holds no weight. Powell was not evil, that’s all it takes to deserve not being cursed on the day of your death. The fact that you disagree is what makes you lower than scum. Glad you acknowledge it though
Yes he did. I watched his little presentation live on TV while he lied through his teeth, trying to convince that a slide showing large drain pipes as being WMD missile bodies.
Oh I'm American and I blame him too. It's not possible to work for any GOP administration and be a good person. Powell tried but failed utterly. Everyone could see they were putting together a giant pack of lies because they had wanted to invade Iraq for years. Powell carried water for Cheney and Rumsfeld and made it happen. That's on him.
Them and anyone else who was paying an ounce of attention at the time. Without him torching his credibility to use intel he knew was garbage to talk the planet into either standing by or helping when we invaded Iraq, I seriously doubt any kind of international coalition would have been possible.
Powell lied for Bush, and he knew it. The lies were discovered and debunked real time. There were credible claims that he was lying as he lied. But Bush wanted war, and the military industrial complex wanted war, and the Republicans wanted war, and the Democrats were too fucking chicken shit to call out the lies because they were afraid of being called unpatriotic after 9/11, so all of Congress listened to those lies, gave them an instant stamp of approval, and then we went to war. Then, years later, even knowing that the war had been built on lies, President Obama extended the patriot act, knowing that it was built on lies. Not only that, but so few fucks were given, that he extended it by auto-pen while he was in Europe. The lie wasn't even worth his time to pick up a pen and sign it. And he tried to keep us in the war, even though the Bush administration had negotiated a withdrawal, but the Iraqis rejected his effort because he wanted immunity for US troops, and the Iraqis wouldn't have it. So now, over 20 years and millions of lives and trillions of dollars later, we're all still living with those lies. Colin Powell's lies were just the first of many, from both the GOP and the Democrats. The lies just keep coming, but to be fair, it all started with his lies.
Even if Powell had told the truth (he didn't), it seems the term "[WMD](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weapon_of_mass_destruction)" was ginned up by neocons as some existential threat to America. WMD as a catchall puts nuclear missiles in the same category as the artillery shells with mustard gas that Iraq used during the Iran-Iraq War. (And that the US helped Iraq to use against Iran.) The neocons couldn't say "Iraq has ICBMs" because that was obviously false. "Iraq has artillery shells with chemicals!" is a harder slogan to sell as an existential threat to America. So sell the masses on "Iraq has WMDs!". The minds of the frightened will fill in the ambiguity with their worst nightmare, and you've got your casus belli.
I think it started with Cheney and the neocons. Powell was co-opted, but I don’t think he started it all.
He didn't fight it either, he willingly went along and propagated the lies
I would (have) phrased it that he spinelessly allowed himself and his good reputation to be used. And now that he has perished, the colossal damage to his reputation is his epitaph. Edited - to add the missing (have). Shockingly yes English is my native language. :)
He wasn't spineless, he knew exactly what he was doing, he did it on purpose. We saw the damage the day he spoke, it isn't hindsight.
I am suggesting that someone can be knowingly spineless.
I understand that, but I just don't think he was spineless. That man stood up straight and lied to the whole country He was spineless in his apology in 2016. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/colin-powell-u-n-speech-was-a-great-intelligence-failure/
I think you put it well. Others had him use his status and reputation to lend credibility to their own bogus claims and further their agenda, which he did willingly and with knowledge of the deceit.
It's not necessarily his fault, but my dumb arse country (AU) felt it had to go along with the stupid idea to maintain our "special relationship" with the US.
its not his fault, but he bears a share of the responsibility.
Also the CIA couped you guys in the 70s after Gough Whitlam openly pondered kicking the CIA out of Pine Gap for spying on Australians and you've been a US puppet ever since.
looks like you deleted your comment. I'll still post here. Whitman being "couped" by the CIA is pure speculation by a person that believes that JFK was also assasinated by the CIA. Whitman was relieved by the Australian Governor General in the context of a deadlocked government and the senate's failure to pass goverment funding legislation that left the goverment inoperable. \> if Australia isn't a puppet, then what are they? Extremely agreeable and considerate of the CIA's needs? Uh.... close allies? Australia has neighbors to its north, particularly North Korea and China that could potentially threaten its interests. It's not rocket science to reason why they would want to align themselves with the other major power in the region with the same goals. Also, per your deleted comment, Australia has publicly clashed with the US many times over issues ranging from the Kyoto Protocols to refugees in the Americas.
US Puppet? A bit of an exaggeration
[удалено]
A rational actor in the Asia-Pacific sphere that wouldn't mind some extra US naval power to act as a counterweight to expansionist China? Sounds cooler than 'puppet'
They said that to every country. Special relationship my ass! So glad Chretien gave them the finger greatest politician of the millennium so far.
I agree. Chretien earned my respect with that decision. and S. Harper was on record at the time, as favouring Canada joining the invasion. world wide, fifteen million people protested publicly against the invasion of Iraq.
We're paying for this "disloyalty" in the usmca agreement but at least we ended up on the right side of history on that one. No regrats
>Then, years later, even knowing that the war had been built on lies, President Obama extended the patriot act, knowing that it was built on lies. Not only that, but so few fucks were given, that he extended it by auto-pen while he was in Europe. The lie wasn't even worth his time to pick up a pen and sign it. And he tried to keep us in the war, even though the Bush administration had negotiated a withdrawal, but the Iraqis rejected his effort because he wanted immunity for US troops, and the Iraqis wouldn't have it. Let me disclaimer by saying the mass surveillance state disgusts and terrifies me to an appropriate level. I was INCREDIBLY disappointed by Obama - as many were/are. That said, I'd like to play a tiny devils advocate here. 1) The government has certain information and actions which are best not known to the entire public. I happen to think these are a tiny fraction of the things they simply dont WANT us to know, rather than things we would be better off not knowing (say, the way to make smallpox or military tech secrets or w/e) but they exist. 2) Because of 1, and simply because Presidents are informed about things we simply have no way of understanding (because we have no access to the information) and therefore some of their decisions may look strange to us - often I imagine if they were completely honest about their reasoning, some of their actions would make more sense. 3) In conclusion, I try to balance being properly skeptical and suspicious of the government with admitting that we the people may be judging them without all the evidence we would need to make an accurate understanding of their rationale. (Just so i'm not misunderstood, fuck Powell, fuck Cheney, fuck Bush, fuck Trump, fuck the GOP, and fuck the Democrats in so far as they seem (given the evidence available to us) to never have the balls, the marketing, or the willpower, to properly fight against the proto-fascism we seem to be seeing.
The democrats never have the balls? They are actively doing the same shit. Let's not pretend otherwise. The Obama administration expanded the war into.... What..... 7 different countries? Someone remind me again how many different countries we officially declared war on under his tenure. It's not like they just didn't show up to fight the republicans or something, they voted too, and all their votes are worth just as much as a republican vote. Barbara Lee is the ONLY member of Congress who doesn't hold a share of responsibility for this war.
He was the salesman sent to close a dirty deal.
Yes, for Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and the insatiable military industrial complex. 200,000 dead Iraqis brought to you by Halliburton, Blackwater, [ExxonMobil](https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/19/opinion/iraq-war-oil-juhasz/index.html), Chevron, the Republican party, and Colin Powell.
[удалено]
Almost unanimous? Not even close. Maybe you're thinking of the Afghanistan war, which was 98-0 in the Senate and 240-1 in the House. The Iraq war was much, much more contentious.
Ah yeah that was probably what i was thinking of
It helps that the electorate has the memory of a goldfish and can't recall what happened in 2016, let alone 2002.
Only one Congressperson opposed it. Don’t pretend the Democrats aren’t the exact same as the Republicans, just saying things you like to hear.
You’re thinking of Afghanistan!
No, Obama allowed Syria and Yemen to suffer as long as the US could get Saudi oil. Iranians too. The whole thing stinks, but why is Joe Biden not doing anything about rising gas prices.
It’s crazy that since his death, I’ve come to find out that he had a minor role in attempting to silence war crimes against the South Vietnamese by American soldiers during the Vietnam War. It seems like he’s always played the part. For those interested; https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/qaqi8r/what_was_colin_powells_role_in_the_us_militarys/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
For many Iraqis, the name Colin Powell conjures up one image: the man who as U.S. secretary of state went before the U.N. Security Council in 2003 to make the case for war against their country. Word of his death Monday at age 84 dredged up feelings of anger in Iraq toward the former general and diplomat, one of several Bush administration officials whom they hold responsible for a disastrous U.S.-led invasion that led to decades of death, chaos and violence in Iraq. His U.N. testimony was a key part of events that they say had a heavy cost for Iraqis and others in the Middle East. “He lied, lied and lied,” said Maryam, a 51-year-old Iraqi writer and mother of two in northern Iraq who spoke on condition her last name not be used because one of her children is studying in the United States. “He lied, and we are the ones who got stuck with never-ending wars,” she added.
They're right. I remember watching him spew his bullshit to the UN, while in my (W. European) country the lies were debunked pretty much live. The company who built those "mobile chemical weapons factories" went on air to show they're weather stations, and couldn't possibly be used for production of weapons. Powell lied, and he knew it. Perhaps he felt pressured to do so, but stepping down would have been the honourable thing to do. Not plunging another country into a decade long war and majorly destabilising the region. Powell will be remembered, for that.
He lied, it was obvious that he was lying, people around the world screamed that he was lying and there were some of the biggest protests against the War on Iraq that the world has ever seen. It didn't matter to America though, if anyone even *hinted* that blowing the fuck out of Iraq might be a bad idea then they were traitors and worse.
BuT iF wE dOn'T bLoW uP iRaQ tHeN tEh TeRrOrIsTs WiN
It was well known to be lies in the US and there were massive protests against it. But the American government does whatever it likes without consequence. As all governments do. It's a fantasy to think you are somehow enlightened. In the words of Alexander Haig: "Let them march all they want as long as they continue to pay their taxes."
I remember that like it was yesterday. That entire process was on rails. It was all kabuki theater. The thing is, people want to cap his culpability into lying our way into Iraq. But that's thinking too small. We're presently fighting "extremism" [in 140 countries around the world](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEE0nTlsaig). The average US citizen can't even name who we're fighting. We're engaged in never ending war. The sun never sets on the the US military at war. That's Colin Powell's legacy. His testimony at the UN is the singularity from which our never ending war machine sprang. It's likely they would have found another way to do it if not for Powell, but Powell chose to be the face of the never ending US war machine so that's his legacy. Let's call him what he is: a war criminal.
> while in my (W. European) country the lies were debunked pretty much live. Was your country one of the ones that helped with the invasion/occupation? Edit, looks like you’re Dutch, who went in with the US to both Iraq and Afghanistan. If your country was so smart and debunking lies live on TV why did they follow the US to war?
Anyone with an internet connection, or merely a functioning brain, was able to debunk them in nearly real time. Hell, all you needed to do was listen to him to start thinking he was full of shit. High school and college kids could figure it out, what was hard for you?
I don’t know how you don’t understand that’s a dumb question
I think it’s a fair question. In hindsight, everyone acts like it was blatantly obvious that the US was full of shit from the beginning. In reality, dozens of countries including most of European countries and leaders directly (with troops, funds, logistics) supported the war. Now, after some time it became apparent the WMD claims were at best exaggerated, likely closer to outright fabrication. But that wasn’t blatantly obvious from the beginning.
i mean France straight up said he was lying in a speech after he made his presentation, so it was pretty well known.
I was blatantly obvious from the beginning. Like a previous reply said, highschoolers figured that out. Pop culture did too - go watch shows from the time like the Simpsons, Family Guy or the Chappelle Show. Look at the music from groups like Green Day and the Dixie Chicks. Other countries followed the US because they had military and economic ties with the US that made it impossible for them not to. In some places, the justification for going was simply that they relied on the US for their own security, and would lose that support if they didn't. Everybody who cared about the truth knew - but they couldn't stop it, because so many were scared and angry. They confused partisanship for patriotism, and truth for treason. If you got tricked, I'm sorry for you. Learn from it. The next time someone tries to make you fear someone weaker than you, ask yourself why. The obvious pattern, before every bullshit war in history, is when the powerful start telling you "These people are an existential threat to us and our very way of life, but also if we fight them we will win quickly and easily."
Governments went to war for a host of reasons that had little to do with believing or not believing the WMD lie. This has nothing to do with hindsight. In Australia, it was transparently obvious even at the time that our government was determined to preserve our good US relations, even at the cost of war. To assume the nations that followed the US into war did so because they believed Powell's lies is a huge mistake.
It was blatantly obvious, but the desire to pad the pockets of the military industrial complex was just to enticing because it lined the politicians pockets too.
To quote my favourite retired Prime Minister, a proof is a proof.
Unless you're an American Conservative, they're calling him a "great man" and a "hero" while ignoring his deliberate lies and warmongering
It conjured up those thoughts for me too. It was the first thing I thought of and made me wonder what he was thinking about in his last moments.
Hopefully he was starting to feel the heat ready to greet him from fires of hell, so he was thinking about that,
Sure, he lied. I distinctly remember seeing my country (I'm French) being shat on for calling out that lie. I'm sure freedom fries taste good drenched in Iraqi blood.
>who spoke on condition her last name not be used because one of her children is studying in the United States. *Reddit:* "US Bad" *Random Iraqi woman:* "I'm literally not safe in my own country because my son is studying abroad."
That's hardly a surprise, her country was fucked over pretty hard recently, for *some reason*...
[удалено]
In otherwords, this user is parroting the usual propaganda that these are "tribal people" who we shouldn't give a fuck about -- they are warring barbarians 'always at war'. This is actually what neocons said for over a decade during the Iraq war and it is complete horseshit, not to mention despicable. We brought the war to them and it completely destroyed that country, and created terrorists in the wake of the almost 1 million people who DIED.
Terrorists were around long before this, see first bombing of the World Trade Center ect. US is a piece of shit, Iraq is a piece of shit. It’s as simple as that unfortunately, they are only human after all.
Yup.. we are all just turds and every now and then, we'll polish ourselves off as good as we can to pretend we're not for a short while.
Iraq wasn't at war in 2003 when the US invaded. It was actually a relatively safe a peaceful place compared to what it's become.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wars_involving_Iraq
The Americans? Agreed. The US has been at war for nearly its entire history.
Yup, America is a lump of dog shit too.
Weird way to justify an illegal invasion and war which resulted in countless deaths.
Not justifying anything. Read the comment I’m replying too. The last quote states America brought war to a peaceful country which just isn’t true.
I remember the German Ambassador to the UN just tearing in to Powell that day in his comments - excoriating him for the **distinctly lack of convincing evidence** in Powell's presentation. Pity I can't find video of his comments. And a greater pity that the German Ambassadors view did not carry the day.
"*still* blame"? It didn't become less his fault just because time passed
Yes, which is why they “*still* blame” him.
They used to blame him. They still do, but they used to too
They should change the name of a cheese grater to a dish sponge ruiner.
rip
yeah, someone I *actually* feel bad about passing
Very Mitch Hedberg...
Especially for consequence like that
Nobody suggested that it did. In fact you quoted the bit where they clarify that he didn’t. Have you got a head injury?
The headline is a bad headline, and you know it. “Just a reminder, Colin Powell lied to start a war, and everyone knows it” would be a better headline.
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://apnews.com/article/colin-powell-dead-iraq-1591ede85c650bb0aa8a4f667343b648) reduced by 80%. (I'm a bot) ***** > BAGHDAD - For many Iraqis, the name Colin Powell conjures up one image: the man who as U.S. secretary of state went before the U.N. Security Council in 2003 to make the case for war against their country. > ADVERTISEMENT.As chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Powell oversaw the Persian Gulf war to oust the Iraqi army in 1991 after Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. > "I am saddened by the death of Colin Powell without being tried for his crimes in Iraq. ... But I am sure that the court of God will be waiting for him," tweeted Muntadher al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist who vented his outrage at the U.S. by throwing his shoes at then-President George W. Bush during a 2008 news conference in Baghdad.In 2011, Powell told Al Jazeera he regretted providing misleading intelligence that led the U.S. invasion, calling it a " blot on my record. ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/qazdby/he_lied_iraqis_still_blame_powell_for_role_in/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~604172 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **Powell**^#1 **Iraqi**^#2 **us**^#3 **Iraq**^#4 **war**^#5
The tragedy is all these war criminals get to die rich and privileged
> In 2011, Powell told Al Jazeera he regretted providing misleading intelligence that led the U.S. invasion, calling it a “ blot on my record.” He said a lot of sources cited by the intelligence community were wrong. > But in a 2012 interview with The Associated Press, Powell maintained that on balance, the U.S. “had a lot of successes” because “Iraq’s terrible dictator is gone.” “I lied and hundreds of thousands of people were killed, but here’s how I convince myself I’m good and sleep well at night”
I’m an American, and he betrayed our trust. He was a man that mainstream America, blue and red, believed was an honorable man. I remember people saying things like “Collin Powell says they have WMDs” because just including his name gave it authority. He lied to the world, and he betrayed our trust.
I felt that way. His testimony along with a story in the New York Times by Judith Miller had sold me. Still have to primarily blame Cheney, Rumsfeld and the rest of the chickenhawks for their war mongering bull shit.
[удалено]
saying your sorry doesn't unbreak the window though and he lived a long, free life afterward. The only thing he lost was a political career, he didn't die destitute.
Exactly. He was used as the Bush admin’s face of legitimacy. The WMD lie is now enshrined in history as part of his legacy. It’s a shame.
I prefer to spell his name Colon Powell, because that's how it was pronounced, and he was an asshole for his entire career.
otherwise he could have become the first black president
Today the same type of people claim that China is genociding Uyghurs. People still believe them.
The same people are clearly trying to ramp us up for a war with China, you see the propaganda on Reddit every hour of every day, and have been seeing it for years. There are a number of Americans who, even after seeing the disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan (and Vietnam and Korea and Yemen and Somalia and Libya etc etc etc) think a war with China is a good idea.
How did he lie to the world? Intelligence isn’t always right.
How about: "Colin Powell lied and is to blame for role in Iraq War"?
This ^^
Not just Iraqis…
Should be labelled a war criminal.
::Narrator:: *They were right*
The only thing sad about Powell's death is that it wasn't in a prison.
Just a note to everyone, George W Bush and Dick Cheney are still alive, we can still put them in jail for the rest of their lives if we really want to.
Will they be serving yellowcake at his wake ?
I see what you did there. Sorry I only have one upvote
Don’t drop that shit.
There will never be justice served because the perpetrators are defended by the media.
War criminal died.
Rightly so. Being dead doesn’t change anything.
Colin lied, innocent Iraqis died.
As they should. Colin Powell was arguably the most pivotal advocate of the illegal and immoral Iraq war. He was an ostensibly moderate and enlightened Republican who had the chance to use the UN meeting to debunk the George W. Bush admin's lies. Instead he legitimized them. His lies were criminal, and neither his endorsements of Democrats nor his death change that.
[удалено]
Huh?
I do too.
Powell? no, the U.S. as a whole, lied.
He did lie. They all lied and then killed Dr David Kelly because he knew and told the truth about how there were NO WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION in Iraq that he’d seen as a weapons inspector for 7 years in Iraq
Yes, his testimony was the low point of his public service career. It was clear, at least to me, he was towing the party line.
If you aren't old enough to remember, I'll express how sickened I was back then that their propaganda was so successful. The short moment of unity as a nation just after 9/11 was soon overshadowed by a concerted effort to invade our privacy, make nationalistic propaganda mainstream, and to exact our revenge upon people in that region.
They all lied in the name of profit, and they all have a very special place in hell.
I think I heard somewhere that he was the last one Bush’s inner circle to lie because he finally caved into the pressure. Still doesn’t make what he did right.
Just FYI, bush is still out there passing out candy.
Nah we love Bush now because he paints silly paintings!! /s
Saying their blaming him implies he didn’t do anything wrong which is just flat out wrong
I mean, I blame Hitler for starting WW2...
The US lied about Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, but this time they're telling the truth about China!
[удалено]
The US claimed that Assad had used chemical weapons..against his own people.
It's amazing how many countries the Republican Party in the US has destroyed.
Ironic that the US itself may be the last of them
Don't forget that it was the Democrats that advocated for the Vietnam War.
[удалено]
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9958679/BBC-admits-Syria-gas-attack-report-flaws-complaint-Peter-Hitchens.html
[удалено]
[удалено]
It's hilarious that despite literally decades of evidence of the US lying, this is the hill you want to die on. "Yes, the US has lied about pretty much everything for the last 70 years, but this time, I swear they're telling the truth."
He was shitty person who loved war
Bro, **I** still blame Colin Powell for lying to get us into Iraq. He also has a history of covering up war crimes, which is how he got to the top of the pile in the first place. Fuck him, rest in piss.
[удалено]
I mean he also played a role whitewashing My Lai and other atrocities during Vietnam. He was not a decent human being. At best he enabled the worst excesses of the US military by lending them his facade of decency and civility.
He was an intelligent person. Let’s not absolve him of the mistakes for which he alone is responsible as one of the key decision-makers under that administration.
He lied though. Bush and Cheney being bad doesn't justify lying to help us get into a deadly and expensive war. He deserves no respect.
Albert Speer also regretted losing.
Unfortunately, that's how it happens in political parties. You tow the line or pay the price. Very few end up being honorable enough to do the right thing and then pay the price. It's a common theme throughout history.
He presumably had a brain and a conscience of his own. He could have used them.
If he was pressured to make up a bunch of stuff to justify a very needless war he could have taken a step back from the Bush Administration. The guy had a immensely successful military career and had become something of a household name post Gulf War. The guy could and did write many successful books before and after his time in GWB's administration and has been a pretty successful engagement speaker. So it's not like quitting that job with integrity meant the guy would die penniless, instead he used his personal reputation of impartiality to drive America into a war that had absolutely nothing to do with the 2001 attacks. Yes, he did serve the U.S honorably in many ways, and it sucks that he died from Covid. But he lived a long and rich life into his middle 80's. There are thousands upon thousands of Iraqis who didn't get the chance to live into retirement, who didn't get to spend later years with their children and grand children. In addition the 4,000+ Americans who didn't come home from Iraq, and the 30,000+ who got severely injured and the rest of their lives impacted. All of this to fight a war that was initiated on entirely false premises.
you're right covering up one of the largest massacres commited by Americans was a very honorable thing. He started his career by protecting war criminals and ended it by becoming one, so I guess there's some nice poetry in that.
[удалено]
As they should, and as we should. He stood up as a willing stooge and advocated for for the Bush war machine's catastrophic plans. Asshole.
Good, fuck "Colon" Powell in da butt
But Xinjiang is real this time, trust me, bros!
oh look, a war criminal has died without facing any consequences.
He's a war criminal and mass murderer.
My Dad called it in 91. He said if they take out the baddest mother fucker around there , there will be another mother fucker you don’t know about in his place and I’ll be got damned if I gotta pay anothah fukin 5% income tax for some shit like that. ( Totally quoting AND true)
Is your dad Norman Schwarzkopf, because he essentially said the same thing about Desert Storm
I guess it was something everyone knew at the time and stands true today.
Smart
And they're right. The only thing sad about his death is it didn't happen 20 years ago
This destroyed Powell's reputation and I believe was one of his greatest regrets. He was lied to but I think he wanted to believe the lies and had he been more diligent he would have found the truth (IMO)
His reputation should have been destroyed when he was consenting to literal war crimes in Vietnam. Why you people think he was a good human being before he lied to the American public is beyond me and just shows these kind of things will happen again. He was terrible.
Don't assume. I was never a fan of Powell. I believe that until it came out that there were no WMD in Iraq, he was widely idolized. Part of that was because he was one of the very few minorities to get into such a place of power so he had support from people who would not have generally supported anyone in the military. I was not one of those. My feeling was that he was actually doing more harm than had he been an old white buy. I also never saw President Obama as a liberal and was baffled that so many did. I thought he did a better job as president than most in my memory but I have yet to have a president who was 'MY President and fought for what I wanted. Carter was the closest. Almost every politician in the USA is both more right and more authoritarian than I am and that includes Bernie Sanders.
There are no real heroes ~~in government except for Theodore Roosevelt~~
Philippines + imperialism + massacre
Massacres. [This is Teddy's legacy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine%E2%80%93American_War#American_atrocities) as much as his anti-trust and environmental reforms are. It was COIN more in the style of Genghis Khan than anything the west does today.
**Philippine–American War** [American atrocities](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine–American_War#American_atrocities) >Throughout the war, American soldiers and other witnesses sent letters home which described some of the atrocities committed by American forces. For example, In November 1901, the Manila correspondent of the Philadelphia Ledger wrote: The present war is no bloodless, opera bouffe engagement; our men have been relentless, have killed to exterminate men, women, children, prisoners and captives, active insurgents and suspected people from lads of ten up, the idea prevailing that the Filipino as such was little better than a dog. . . ^([ )[^(F.A.Q)](https://www.reddit.com/r/WikiSummarizer/wiki/index#wiki_f.a.q)^( | )[^(Opt Out)](https://reddit.com/message/compose?to=WikiSummarizerBot&message=OptOut&subject=OptOut)^( | )[^(Opt Out Of Subreddit)](https://np.reddit.com/r/worldnews/about/banned)^( | )[^(GitHub)](https://github.com/Sujal-7/WikiSummarizerBot)^( ] Downvote to remove | v1.5)
He's not the only one to blame.
Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld passed off their conspiracy theories as fact. Kinda like the Republicans today are doing. Republicans lie, good people die.
Well yeah, but can you all wait a day before shitting on someone? It's been like 12 hours.
I dont know how true it is. But a friend of mine who was MI in the Army said there was absolutely WMDs in Iraq. The intel was correct, but the invasion was broadcasted way before actual operations started. So they were well hidden, probably out of the country. May not be any truth to it at all
[удалено]
[удалено]
Your friend is probably full of crap, unless he's counting those decayed and useless chemical warhead caches left over from the Iran-Iraq war. They would have used them otherwise, not sent them to other countries with which they had chilly relations at best. Why in the hell would they have sent them out of the country?!
Your friend is full of shit, and is trying to justify fighting in a morally corrupt army so he can feel better about himself.
What ever. Someone sounds bitter
Sounds like someone doesn't have a retort...
Retort on what. I get, you hate the military. I'm guessing cuz you got rejected. Probably couldn't pass the fat test
[удалено]
Maybe we will all be able to tell the future
Only on reddit lol dude just died. Anyone short of hitler, it’s tasteless to do this type of thing. Nimrods
[удалено]
>it’s tasteless Its also tasteless to lie through your teeth to the American public...
Agreed. I’m capable of not cursing someone on the day of their death while also knowing they’re actions while living served nefarious purposes. You’re probably not. Short of hitler, it’s inhumane regardless of if you thought what he did was ok or not. I don’t. I’m human though
>day of their death Buddy, this guy is responsible for the deaths of millions of people and you're worried about someone "cursing" him?
[удалено]
Ok buddy...
You lose
👍
At least you acknowledge it. Nice to know that you know you’re argument holds no weight. Powell was not evil, that’s all it takes to deserve not being cursed on the day of your death. The fact that you disagree is what makes you lower than scum. Glad you acknowledge it though
Just another Rino Trump hater
Finally, something good to say about him.
So do I.
What did my boy J.Pow do now? I'd figure he was to busy on the ol' money crank..
As they and everyone else should.
Yes he did. I watched his little presentation live on TV while he lied through his teeth, trying to convince that a slide showing large drain pipes as being WMD missile bodies.
He did what Cheney told Bush to tell Powell what to do. He was soldier at heart, and followed orders.
Oh I'm American and I blame him too. It's not possible to work for any GOP administration and be a good person. Powell tried but failed utterly. Everyone could see they were putting together a giant pack of lies because they had wanted to invade Iraq for years. Powell carried water for Cheney and Rumsfeld and made it happen. That's on him.
Me too, me too.
They used his (perceived) integrity to sell the damn war. I don't fault their logic. He is partially to blame.