Born in Harlem, he was the first African American secretary of state in the history of the United States. The family: “We have lost a husband, a father and a great American.”
Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell died today at the age of 84. According to what the family communicated on his Facebook page, the cause of death would be attributed to “complications related to Covid-19”. It is not known at the moment what kind of illness was fatal to him.
While the reactions of the White House are awaited, former Republican President George W. Bush commented on the news through an official statement, declaring himself “deeply sorry” for the loss of a figure who marked American foreign policy during the years of the presidency of he. Colin Powell was “a great public servant from the time he served as a soldier in Vietnam,” adds the Republican. “He is highly respected at home and abroad. And more importantly, Colin was a family man and friend. Laura and I send our sincere condolences to Alma and their children, ”adds the note. Bush’s words were joined by the first reactions from the world of politics and the military: «The world has lost one of the greatest leaders. He has been my mentor for years, with him I also lose an extraordinary friend, “commented Pentagon number one, Lloyd J. Austin. Among the first to express condolences was General Martin Dempsey, former US Chief of Staff, followed by Republican Senator Mitt Romney, who defined Powell as «a man of indomitable courage devoted to the cause of freedom.
He remained in office from January 2001 to January 2005, and is best remembered for his speech at the United Nations Council on February 5, 2003 in which he supported the existence of evidence – by exhibiting a vial that contained a white powder – on the possession of weapons of mass destruction by Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime to justify military intervention.
Speaking of the biological weapons in Iraq’s possession, Powell showed representatives of other countries, with a very theatrical gesture, a vial that contained a white powder. Powell added that Iraq could have produced about 25,000 liters of anthrax, according to UN inspectors. The speech was so dramatic and effective that even many American liberal commentators, tending to be unfavorable to the policies of the Bush administration, were influenced by it in saying that they were convinced of the reality of the danger represented by Iraq.
Anthrax had been a very real danger for a few months in previous years: after the 9/11 attacks five people died and another 17 were infected by a series of letters containing small amounts of anthrax. In the months following the February 5 speech, it was discovered that much of the information and reconstructions presented by Colin Powell to members of the Security Council were false.
There were no mobile laboratories or huge arsenals of weapons of mass destruction. Much later, in the summer of 2008, the investigation into the anthrax attacks also ended: the FBI said it had gathered enough evidence to say that the culprit was Bruce E. Ivins, a microbiologist who worked for the government. that he was not tried because he had killed himself a few weeks before the announcement. In February 2005, Powell called his speech to the United Nations Security Council – and the exposition of the arguments produced by the American and British secret services – a “stain” on his career.
° BLOG ° Gabriele Romano 