Colin Powell, a four-star general who was the United States’ first African-American Secretary of State, has died at 84 of COVID-19-related complications.
Powell, who was fully vaccinated, passed away following treatment at the Walter Reed National Medical Centre, his family posted on Facebook.
As the 65th US Secretary of State, Powell oversaw the country’s invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan during the first George W. Bush administration. He also served as chairman of the Joints chiefs of Staff during the George H.W. Bush administration, when he oversaw 28 crises including the invasion of Panama and Operation Desert Storm.
He was known for the “Powell doctrine” that limited US military action unless it satisfied a series of criteria including a threat to national security, a clear attainable objective, a frank analysis of risks and costs and exhaustion of non-violent policies, amongst other criterion.
However, Powell’s justification for the war in Iraq—which was initially built atop claims that the country possessed weapons of mass destruction—was controversial. His 2003 presentation to the United Nations General Assembly where he made a case for war was later found to have included fabricated “evidence”. “Saddam Hussein and his regime are concealing their efforts to produce more weapons of mass destruction,” he said—a claim later exposed as false once the invasion found no such weapons. Powell later called the speech a “blot” on his record.
Powell stepped down following the re-election of George W. Bush in 2004.
Former President George W. Bush said he and former first lady Laura Bush were “deeply saddened” by Powell's death.
"He was a great public servant” and “widely respected at home and abroad,” Bush said. "And most important, Colin was a family man and a friend. Laura and I send Alma and their children our sincere condolences as they remember the life of a great man.”
