Colin Powell dies of COVID-19 complications at 84

He was not a hero. He lied about Iraq. He knew there were no "chemical weapons." His performance at the UN with the washing powder in a test tube was a disgrace. How many innocent lives are on his hands?

His previous good work and military service were shamed by his Iraqi lies and actions. Thats all people will remember.

Pity about his speech to the UN. I suspect he knew it was all lies but was sent to do the dirty work on behalf of the Khaki cowards - Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld....

nostromo.....

He knew it was lies. He knew he was being used... Yet he still went along. And took a lot of doubters into supporting the war. He is just as bad if not worse than Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld.

zichiToday  06:54 am JST

A member of the Gang of Four who are responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands.

'Gang of Four'

A group of Communists prominent in the aftermath of Mao's destructive 'Cultural Revolution' in China which took the lives of millions of Chinese.

A British rock band from the aftermath of the new wave/postpunk explosion of the late 70s, with a strong funk basis. Didn't kill anybody.

Powell had plenty of opportunities to speak out about the direction that U.S. politics have taken.

As a moderate republican he may have been able to alter the course or moderate it.

He didn't. Perhaps he was disgusted with his role and just wanted to retire, comfortably numb?

His choice to do nothing, is a personal and national failure.

He knew it was lies. He knew he was being used... Yet he still went along. 

That’s pure BS. The intelligence services failed at their job and ultimately misled the country - period, end of story. We have seen this repeatedly since the end of WWIII. They are still at it today. They are untouchable and will ruin anyone opposing them. They manipulate a willing media time after time and they always fall for it.

To date, none of the Neo-cons have been held accountable for the death, misery and destruction that was a direct result of a war based on lie. People have forgotten Judith Miller at the NY Times who kept pushing the "big lie" and here we are again, faced with another "big lie." At the time, we all thought W was a moron, but Trump out did him so now we've forgiven those that have actually created the Trumpian nightmare. Just as Powell did W's bidding at the UN, so have others who are doing Trump's now. Thank you Colin Powell for your life's lessons.

He had cancer and it is well known that the immunity response was muted with this form of blood cancer.

“but Fauchi said, but Fauchi said” Fauchi said rapid mass vaccination was the best road out, that the vaccine is safe and effective and that some with immunity compromised systems might be less protected. Check check and check.

Nothing in Secretary Powell’s death under cuts that.

yet he still died from covid

Cancer. But Trump people think the vaccine killed him

Secretary Powell didn’t lie. He was mistaken. He fell for bad intelligence. By his own admission it was a mistake he shouldn’t have made and will be, in his own words “a blot” on his record.

But he is neither the evil genius of the anti-war factions dream, nor the savior of the Republic.

He was a fallible man who served his nation and in the course of around 50 years of public service, made a single, rather large, mistake.

Any fair accounting of his life will take into account both of those factors.

What isn't said here is that he had the Jab.

He was a fallible man who served his nation and in the course of around 50 years of public service, made a single, rather large, mistake.

One that that cost roughly half a million Iraqi's their lives.

Some mistakes are beyond mistakes.

Still, he tried to redeem himself later in life.

What isn't said here is that he had the Jab.

He also had cancer and a compromised immune system. What's your point?

What isn't said here is that he had the Jab.

“In announcing Powell's death, his family said he had been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.”

This article. Paragraph 4.

That’s the thing with conspiracies, they are easily solved by reading.

What isn't said here is that he had the Jab.

Oh, and also it does say,

In announcing Powell's death, his family said he had been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Peggy Cifrino, Powell’s longtime aide, said he had also been treated over the past few years for multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that impairs the body’s ability to fight infection.

I'll never forget his speech to the UN, holding that model vial of anthrax up to scare the entire world. Turns out he would die from a much bigger biological threat or WMD...Covid-19.

Colin Powell, the boundary-breaking military leader 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,

He was a great man who was forever stained by the big Bush lie and the hundred and thousands who died as a result.

Though when you look at the level the GOP has descended into today, he’ll probably comes across as a saint!

Fauci said if you got the vaccine and wear your mask you would be fine. 

Selective memory is just ignorance, if people wore masks they wouldn’t transmit the disease to others. Highly probable that some without a mask and vaccine gave him the infection!!!

So Fauci was right!!!

Colin Powell dies of COVID-19 complications at 84

I take by the headline that if Powell didn’t have covid he would be alive. Did he also have the booster that has recently been approved? Given his privileged status it’s a good bet he did.

Gen Powell said, ‘Republicans should remember they are here to serve people, not just get re-elected again.’

He was saying it in the context of the GOP representatives not having the courage to stand up to trump.

‘He lies about things’ said Gen Powell about donald trump!!!

Did he also have the booster that has recently been approved? Given his privileged status it’s a good bet he did.

It’s easy to check on these things!!

He didn’t get the booster because he was too sick!

He was a great man who was forever stained by the big Bush lie and the hundred and thousands who died as a result.

That clever cowboy W - fooled Powell to do his evil bidding. No one will believe that story.

Secretary Powell had cancer, he has Parkinson’s Disease, but he was a brave man who refused to feel sorry for himself.

I disagreed with plenty of what he said and did, but never lost respect for him. He was a great man!

That clever cowboy W 

No one will call him clever, no one!!!

Colin Powell "explained", but never apologized. He lied and Iraqis died. Millions of human lives ruined and so his indelible epitaph "a painful blot on my record" will not be forgotten by future generations (of Iraqis).

Powell died from blood cancer.

That’s not what the reports say, they are stating complications of Covid

He loved the US so much he helped the neocons lie us into a war.

He lied to the US public and the world to justify the unjustifiable invasion of Iraq, sorry I just cannot give a damn.

Fully vaccinated. Died of COVID. Can’t just change the rules when it suits you.

He also had a compromised immune system due to cancer. Why do the anti-vax ghouls keep leaving that out?

He was a fallible man who served his nation and in the course of around 50 years of public service, made a single, rather large, mistake.

Well, we had a saying in the Navy that went something like this (cleaned up for family consumption) "One aw-shucks cancels all attaboys". Translated that means one good screw up can undo a long career of accomplishment. He is the poster boy for that fact. When a critical eye was needed at the appropriate level to have a positive effect, he abandoned his judgement and believed a pack of lies.

I disagreed with plenty of what he said and did, but never lost respect for him. He was a great man!

So now you respect a man that the American Left claims lied in order to start a war that killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi’s? That is difficult to fathom. That’s because no one believes that political lie either.

Secretary Powell didn’t lie. He was mistaken. He fell for bad intelligence.

At the level of authority he possessed then, falling for bad intel is inexcusable. All those years of military experience he should have had some inkling he was being bamboozled. PowerPoint is the enemy.

To recap the first paragraph of this article:

Colin Powell's sterling reputation of service to Republican and Democratic presidents was stained by his faulty claims to justify the 2003 U.S. war in Iraq.

I also remember him publicly boasting that the U.S. owns no square-inch of land overseas. That may be true at first glance -- superficially, that is.

It's said, though, that the U.S. has 517 bases and facilities on foreign land all over the world. In Okinawa alone there are 32 such bases and facilities. No local can enter the compounds freely without being charged with criminality. The land may be owned by locals but right to the exclusive use of these bases and facilities rests entirely with the U.S.  

Can one boast then that the U.S. is not like a 19th/20th century colonial power that possessed foreign territories for free, exclusive use and exploitation?

Gen. Colin Powell, R.I.P.

@vic.M. It very clearly says he was fully vaccinated. He also had Myeloma for many years and basically no immune system. Can't believe the anti-vaxxers are using an old man, riddled with multiple myeloma to discredit the vaccine. Disgusting individuals. If anything it goes to show how dangerous Covid is.

and Yes, I've seen the effects of Myeloma up close. A common cold becomes life threatening.

He also had a compromised immune system due to cancer. Why do the anti-vax ghouls keep leaving that out?

So then that proves this vaccine is not what they claim is should do overall. So it also means people really need to properly ask more questions before getting the vaccine involving possible physical side effects

So then that proves this vaccine is not what they claim is should do overall.

Lmao not at all. Imagine being so desperate to prove the vaccine doesn't work that you point out the death of an elderly, cancer-ridden man to show the vaccine doesn't work.

So it also means people really need to properly ask more questions before

Or listen to experts. Actual experts, not rightwing conspiracy theorists

getting the vaccine involving possible physical side effects

Nowhere here does it suggest he of vaccination side effects. Please.

That’s not what the reports say, they are stating complications of Covid

You mean complications from the COVID-19 vaccine. This killed Powell? Powell would have been fine if he hadn't taken the vaccine?

A textbook case of how to flush in the drain the whole previous noble service to one's country and go down in history a disgrace. Few people will remember Powell as a soldier and a statesman, most people will remeber him as the vial con performer at the UN.

Some people say he did it willingly, some people say he was duped into it by bad guys from the intelligence community. The result matters the most: hundreds of thousands of dead Iragis and complete loss of credibility and moral high ground by the U.S.. All the world sympathy America got after the 9/11 was completely gone in two years, after the invasion of Iraq. Willing or duped, Powell is very much responsible for that.

No problem for liberals here to speak critically and hatefully of a person who just died because of politics.

Trump hates Powell and won't be going to his funeral. Trump and his people think Powell was a terrible human being because Powell thought Trump would not be a good president [and he wasn't - he can't even build a wall]

Covid vaccination will not help people with serious health conditions like terminal cancer.

That's right, COVID vaccine does not cure cancer. If you have cancer, better get other treatments such as chemo. Why do Trump people think that Non-Trump people believe that the COVID vaccine cures cancer?

Colin Powell is complicit in the deaths of hundred of thousands of people. He made some awful judgements in his career. However, that doesn't make his death suddenly a vaccine issue.

No problem for liberals here to speak critically and hatefully of a person who just died because of politics.

We spoke badly of him before he was dead. What is it about dying that means we should suddenly forget that he was largely responsible for the invasion of a non-attacking sovereign nation, murdering half a million of its civilians?

He deserves all the disrespect he got alive, and that he gets dead.

He had blood cancer and Parkinsons and would have died of them within a relatively short period of time, but Covid sped things up a bit. I am willing to be consistent and say he died of Covid without worrying about some conspiracy nuts calling into question the efficacy of the vaccine.

Fully vaccinated, yet died from Covid?

Interesting…

Powell was a soldier simply following orders about Iraq. Everyone knows that he knows the Iraq war Part II was a scam. If he had resigned Iraq would have still been invaded. Even GWB could not have stopped invasion of Iraq.

It's said, though, that the U.S. has 517 bases and facilities on foreign land all over the world. In Okinawa alone there are 32 such bases and facilities. No local can enter the compounds freely without being charged with criminality. The land may be owned by locals but right to the exclusive use of these bases and facilities rests entirely with the U.S.  

That isn't true. I know this from direct personal experience with overseas US bases. They are in every case owned and commanded by their host country. Their laws and regulations apply and the UK had a raft of them we had to obey. The base commander was a Brit. He owned the base. He was a Royal Navy Commander but on his turf he outranked the US Navy Captain in charge of the Naval Support Facility or any other US officer on base regardless of their rank. The US military units were tenants of the British. The US units had use of the base but it was not their base. God Save the Queen played every morning over the base loudspeakers before the Star Spangled Banner and the base police were British military police. The jail was also run by the British and I knew a few American military including some officers who got to spend a night there for various transgressions. Everyone entering and leaving went through British customs. Same at Clark AB, you had to clear Philippine Customs after deplaning. At both Subic and Clar the base commanders were Philippine officers and the Philippine flag flew prominently over the base. In Oman we could only use their base during daylight hours and it was a very big diplomatic not yam when on one occasion our bi-weekly logistics operations started to overlap into the night. If you notice for example a USAF base on US soil is called a USAF Base but when they are on foreign soil they are a "US Air Base". It is subtile but these are not US soil. You will also notice the base at Yokosuka is not called a US Naval Station or US Naval Shipard. Yokosuka is a Japanese base. The US has "United States Fleet Activities" there but they do not own the base. Japan does.

We spoke badly of him before he was dead. What is it about dying that means we should suddenly forget that he was largely responsible for the invasion of a non-attacking sovereign nation, murdering half a million of its civilians?

He deserves all the disrespect he got alive, and that he gets dead.

Strangerland is right.

The UN presentation was not Powell's first "blot" on his legacy. The first was his conclusion that soldiers had done nothing wrong at My Lai. If you want to honor the man and his life, then look at his life realistically and learn the lessons that he did and don't glorify.

A textbook case of how to flush in the drain the whole previous noble service to one's country and go down in history a disgrace. Few people will remember Powell as a soldier and a statesman, most people will remeber him as the vial con performer at the UN.

The one thing I will always remember of him, with a laugh, is when he stood at the briefing podium with a video feed behind him taken from the FLIR of an attacking aircraft of the Iraqi Air Force HQ in Baghdad. The video shows two bombs enter the roof of the building and a moment later every window in the building blows out as he deadpanned "this is my counterparts office in Baghdad". Boom! I'm sure that opened some eyes in Beijing.

Boom! I'm sure that opened some eyes in Beijing

I think eyes in Beijing were very much opened since the USAF air strike on the Chinese Embassy in Belgrad in 1999.

Anyway, your recollections of Powell just confirmed my opinion about him.

"Fully Vaccinated"

No problem for liberals here to speak critically and hatefully of a person who just died because of politics.

Republicans want Republicans to be able to avoid responsibility for their actions, both alive and dead. It's why they refused to talk about Trump's screwups when he was president, and refuse to talk about them after he's out. Same as with Powell - they freaked out if you criticized him when he was alive (except when they hated him for speaking out about Trump), and they freak out if you criticize him after death.

Know this Republicans - if you do bad stuff, we'll trash your reputation when you're no longer around to do anything about it. Rust in hell.

Damn. I often disagree with him, but Strangerland is on point today.

Vaccinations do not cure somebody who is immunocompromised of being...well compromised. This does not undermine vaccinations in the least, if anything this shows this cases shows the importance of everybody getting vaccinated. When we say that vaccinations are important for public health to limit the spread to the people most vulnerable, this is exactly what we mean. There are people who cannot be vaccinated or cannot effectively be vaccinated, and are reliant on others doing the right thing.

Vaccinations are not, and have never been, a magical panacea. They are a tool in combination with many others to limit the spread of a deadly disease, which can eventually result in that disease dying out by giving it as few hosts as possible.

As far as Powell's life himself, I won't lose much sleep over his loss. I have never subscribed to the "don't speak ill of the dead" philosophy. If they did something bad in life, dying does not give you a pass on that. His actions led to the death of countless more, whether he made them maliciously or from a place of deceit it doesn't ultimately matter.

His tenure, however, was marred by his 2003 address to the U.N. 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.

Sadly Colin Powell's legacy is the lies of mass destruction and the loss of human lives.

Played his part in the military-industrial machine. He now gets to enjoy going to a place where he won't be needing any winter clothing...

He lied to the US public and the world to justify the unjustifiable invasion of Iraq, sorry I just cannot give a damn.

How about people stop flip-flopping or bandwagoning? First it was Colin is a murderer. Then it was, Oh he voted for Obama and Biden, he is such a noble man. Then he dies and the same people want to dance on his grave? Same things were said after George W came out against Trump. He was bad but he disagrees with Trump so he is suddenly a wonderful human being.

@Nomination

I can't speak for everyone, but not necessarily the same groups of people making those statements. My opinion was always consistently negative, voting for Obama and Biden did nothing to change that. Granted, I don't like Obama or Biden any more than most any Republican candidate, so I may not be the best audience for this argument.

Powell could have been US President, but his loyalty to the Bush family overcame his sense of duty to the nation:

Whether he could/should/might/would have been the president, it is already history.

Had he been, he would certainly be better and more capable than Biden or Trump..

Colin Powell is a tragedy of trusting the WRONG people. I was there and he actually had a shot at becoming America's first Black president but fell for the conservative lies and then was used in the most base and vulgar way. I suppose, given who he trusted, that it was good that he did not rise to the POTUSency as he was clearly not as bright, if the Bush morons fooled him, as he appeared to be. He DID repent and even did the unthinkable for a politically prominent American, he admitted his mistakes. He really was a 'leader' but was also 'innocent' in his understanding of the psychopaths he was dealing with whose pathological mentalities he was incapable of even imagining and who, no doubt, promised him the moon and gave him what the innocent can expect from the conservative White establishment of America, complete betrayal. Rest in peace, Sir, you've already been punished for your sins and naivete here...

A seemingly nice and intelligent man who made few mistakes, but when he did they were doozies. He reminds me of my father in a way.

I get that people are really forgiving of someone's faults when the pass on and all, but this is the guy that went to the UN and knowingly lied to the world about the case in favor of starting a war with Iraq that would ultimately kill god only knows how many people.

Whatever credibility or integrity he had before that went out the window as far as I'm concerned.

I think eyes in Beijing were very much opened since the USAF air strike on the Chinese Embassy in Belgrad in 1999.

The Chinese took a chunk of that F-117 the Serbs shot down and took it to their embassy. The US wanted to burn that wreckage as soon as they could so the Russians or Chinese couldn't carry parts back for analysis but there was already every TV station in the Balkans there filming live. It would have been very bad manners to bomb the site with something incendiary on live TV. So instead they waited till the wee hours and gutted the embassy. China played the game and lost that time. I still cannot believe President Clinton had the nerve to sign off on that one.

Lmao not at all. Imagine being so desperate to prove the vaccine doesn't work that you point out the death of an elderly, cancer-ridden man to show the vaccine doesn't work. 

I see. Well, that is your opinion, the fact is that the vaccine is just not for everyone and everyone will experience something different and for some people the effects will be positive and for some people it might not and there’s no reason why we can’t discuss that and no one is going to bully anyone into just taking one side of the argument

Or listen to experts. Actual experts, not rightwing conspiracy theorists 

we do listen to experts, the problem is that liberals think that only experts agree with them are the right experts to listen to and I and millions of others reject that, there should be discussion on both sides, but not everyone is right and I don’t believe that everyone on the left when it comes to this issue is right

Nowhere here does it suggest he of vaccination side effects. Please.

You and I don’t know that.

So then that proves this vaccine is not what they claim is should do overall.

I don't think 'they' or anyone ever claimed that any vaccine cures cancer, or confers eternal life.

So it also means people really need to properly ask more questions before getting the vaccine

No point properly using any questions if you're not going to properly listen to the answers.

No point properly using any questions if you're not going to properly listen to the answers.

Goes both ways.

It’s a little amusing seeing some on here say “he lied” “he lied”. “He” didn’t lie, the US Government with Bush as President lied. He was just many of the talking heads. And least we not forget, the BIGGEST most influential liars of them all, the corporate MSM.

I made a point to watch him live on CSPAN for it. I knew he was going to lie cuz I knew the US decided to attack Iraq after 911. How did I know? History and forethought, severely lacking these days in the similar vax pusher crowd. If you want to know how they got to burning books in Fahrenheit 451, turn on CNN.

Fully vaccinated, yet died from Covid?

Interesting…

oh so the cancer he had didnt play a part.? meanwhile almost 5million have died worldwide unvaccinated.

only dummies think not being vaccinated will give them the same survival chances as vaccinated individuals. The science and statistics will prove them wrong everytime

Desert Tortoise (Oct. 19 09:51 am JST),

In the UK, the Philippines and Oman where you served, things may be as you stated. But have you been deployed to Japan, Okinawa in particular, where U.S. base commanders never report to commanders in JSDF? The SOFA warrants U.S. military personnel are beyond and above Japanese laws and the Japanese constitution.

When toxic-tainted water was released outside of bases, intentionally or accidentally, as happened recently in Okinawa, all the local people could do was lodge a protest against Okinawa Defense Bureau, a branch office of Tokyo's Ministry of Defense, which only said it would convey the protest to the U.S. side without any hitch. 

That means that U.S. bases and the land on which they are planted are all  U.S. properties, nothing short of it．