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Colin Powell, Who Shaped U.S. National Security, Dies at 84

Blackadder1916

Blackadder1916

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"Our strategy in going after this army is very simple. First we are going to cut it off, and then we are going to kill it."

General Powell is going to leave a mixed legacy. I prefer to think of him as a good soldier and to remember his above quote rather than his performance at the UN trying to make the case for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

www.nytimes.com

Colin Powell, Who Shaped U.S. National Security, Dies at 84 (Published 2021)

A former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, secretary of state and national security adviser, Mr. Powell died of complications of Covid-19, his family said.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com

Colin Powell, Who Shaped U.S. National Security, Dies at 84​

A former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, secretary of state and national security adviser, Mr. Powell died on Monday of complications of Covid-19, his family said.

Colin L. Powell, who in four decades of public life served as the nation’s top soldier, diplomat and national security adviser, and whose speech at the United Nations in 2003 helped pave the way for the United States to go to war in Iraq, died on Monday. He was 84.

He died of complications of Covid-19, his family said in a statement, adding that he had been vaccinated and was treated at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md., where he died. Mr. Powell had undergone treatment for multiple myeloma, which compromised his immune system, a spokeswoman said.

Mr. Powell was a pathbreaker, serving as the country’s first Black national security adviser, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and secretary of state. Beginning with his 35 years in the Army, Mr. Powell was emblematic of the ability of minorities to use the military as a ladder of opportunity.

His was a classic American success story. Born in Harlem of Jamaican parents, Mr. Powell grew up in the South Bronx and graduated from City College of New York, joining the Army through ROTC. Starting as a young second lieutenant commissioned in the dawn of a newly desegregated Army, Mr. Powell served two decorated combat tours in Vietnam. He later was national security adviser to President Ronald Reagan at the end of the Cold War, helping negotiate arms treaties and an era of cooperation with the Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev.

As chairman of the Joint Chiefs, he was the architect of the invasion of Panama in 1989 and of the Persian Gulf war in 1991, which ousted Saddam Hussein from Kuwait but left him in power in Iraq. Along with then-Defense Secretary Dick Cheney, Mr. Powell reshaped the American Cold War military that stood ready at the Iron Curtain for half a century. In doing so, he stamped the Powell Doctrine on military operations — identify clear political objectives and public support, use decisive and overwhelming force to defeat enemy forces.

When briefing reporters at the Pentagon at the beginning of the gulf war, Mr. Powell succinctly summed up the military’s strategy to defeat Saddam Hussein’s army: “Our strategy in going after this army is very simple,” he said. “First, we’re going to cut it off, and then we’re going to kill it.”

. . .
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From what I read, he was a man of integrity and was an excellent role model for young black men looking to find their way forward. He was poorly used by the Bush Administration. I wonder how the occupation would have panned out with him in charge rather than Rumsfield?
 
Colin Parkinson said:
From what I read, he was a man of integrity and was an excellent role model for young black men looking to find their way forward. He was poorly used by the Bush Administration. I wonder how the occupation would have panned out with him in charge rather than Rumsfield?
Click to expand...
I'd say he's a role model for young men and women who aspire to great things.
 
Good soldier, crappy politician. A familiar tale of woe....


Colin Powell dies, exemplary general stained by Iraq claims​


Colin Powell, the trailblazing soldier and diplomat whose sterling reputation of service to Republican and Democratic presidents was stained by his faulty claims to justify the 2003 U.S. war in Iraq, died Monday of COVID-19 complications. He was 84.

A veteran of the Vietnam War, Powell spent 35 years in the Army and rose to the rank of four-star general before becoming the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His oversight of the U.S. invasion of Kuwait to oust the Iraqi army in 1991 made him a household name, prompting speculation for nearly a decade that he might run for president, a course he ultimately decided against.

He instead joined President George W. Bush's administration in 2001 as secretary of state, the first Black person to represent the U.S. government on the world stage. Powell's tenure, however, was marred by his 2003 address to the United Nations Security Council in which he cited faulty information to claim that Saddam Hussein had secretly stashed weapons of mass destruction. Such weapons never materialized, and though the Iraqi leader was removed, the war devolved into years of military and humanitarian losses.




www.ctvnews.ca

Colin Powell dies, exemplary general stained by Iraq claims

Colin Powell, the trailblazing soldier and diplomat whose sterling reputation of service to Republican and Democratic presidents was stained by his faulty claims to justify the 2003 U.S. war in Iraq, died Monday of COVID-19 complications. He was 84.
www.ctvnews.ca www.ctvnews.ca
 
Apparently he and several other successful young Black men all went to the same school and they credit a principal there that demand dedication and hard work, but gave a lot of support. Apparently people don't need "Black culture' or "Critical Race theory" to succeed.

He did not want to be POTUS and I think that would have made him a good one, he would have been an excellent "First Black President" and would have been able to do real consensus building. With him even doing one term, I suspect that Trump would have not found such fertile ground and it would also make it much harder for Obama to compete as he would lose much of what little he had to offer.
 
RIP Sir.






I'd like to point out as someone who was on TF McCall, that we did find stuff in Iraq.
A bunch of Yellowcake that went to Canada for disposal - as well as some Chem, Bio that went for disposal, as well as traced a lot of Chem stuff across the border to Syria. 52x40' Conex boxes where packed and evacuated by C-17 from BIAP - and we sat around watching Inspectors from several countries log them before departure. I kept waiting for McCain to announce that during the debates with (not by then) President Obama - but apparently that aspect had fallen from the mind of the West, and I suspect the quantity and quality was not enough to scare folks significantly.
 
Utterly unsurprising. Classic narcissist move- he has to make it about him.

Anyone who is even mildly startled that he’d say something like this at this point hasn’t been paying attention.

May General Powell Rest In Peace. He lived a hell of a life and had an incredible career. He was not perfect, but he served his country honourably.
 
QV said:
Isn't Trump banned from Twitter? They should un-ban him so we can be sure he's sending this out and not someone else.
Click to expand...

Easily found on his official website...

www.donaldjtrump.com

Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America

Over the past four years, Donald J. Trump's administration delivered for Americans of all backgrounds like never before. Save America is about building on those accomplishments!
www.donaldjtrump.com www.donaldjtrump.com

I need a shower after visiting his site.
 
KevinB said:
RIP Sir.






I'd like to point out as someone who was on TF McCall, that we did find stuff in Iraq.
A bunch of Yellowcake that went to Canada for disposal - as well as some Chem, Bio that went for disposal, as well as traced a lot of Chem stuff across the border to Syria. 52x40' Conex boxes where packed and evacuated by C-17 from BIAP - and we sat around watching Inspectors from several countries log them before departure. I kept waiting for McCain to announce that during the debates with (not by then) President Obama - but apparently that aspect had fallen from the mind of the West, and I suspect the quantity and quality was not enough to scare folks significantly.
Click to expand...
Funny I read all the reports from Han's Blix to the UNSC, even he was convinced Saddam was hiding something. The only report that said otherwise was the very last one, likley as an attempt to forestall the invasion, which would uncover the vast oil for food scandal his boss was waist deep in.
I also remember interviews with Iraqi general shortly after the invasion. They were all convinced that Saddam had something up his sleeve and one general commented that he issued NBC gear to his troops in anticipation of Saddam using them.
People forget it wasn't the UN inspectors that found his nuke program, but it was thanks to his brother inlaw that fled the country. Nuclear components were dug up in the backyards of some scientist and a banned intermediate range missile was found under development also just prior to the invasion. Then there was the convoys of trucks to Syria carrying who knows what.
 
Out of respect for Mr. Powell, perhaps we should discuss the consequences of his role in that invasion in another thread?

I have some questions that some members here may be able to answer, But I don't feel like this is the proper thread to ask.


Is incredibly impressive man who truly did serve as a voice of reason and integrity. He accomplished an awful lot and paved the way for many others.

RIP sir 🙏
 
I recall his press conferences when he was CJCS - thoroughly prepared, well spoken and reasonable. Smartest guy in the room.
CBH99 said:
Out of respect for Mr. Powell, perhaps we should discuss the consequences of his role in that invasion in another thread?

I have some questions that some members here may be able to answer, But I don't feel like this is the proper thread to ask.


Is incredibly impressive man who truly did serve as a voice of reason and integrity. He accomplished an awful lot and paved the way for many others.

RIP sir 🙏
Click to expand...
I agree.
 
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