Colin Powell, former US Secretary of State under George W. Bush, died of complications related to Covid – franceinfo

Former Secretary of State under George W. Bush, Colin Powell, has died at the age of 84 from “complications related to Covid-19”, his family announced Monday, October 18. “We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father and grandfather, and a great American”his relatives said in a statement.

Former Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces between 1989 and 1993, Colin Powell was the first African American to hold this position. He became head of American diplomacy under the Republican presidency of George W. Bush eight years later, and was in office during the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the outbreak of the war in Iraq.

Apostle of a military intervention in Iraq, Colin Powell had made, on February 5, 2003, before the Security Council of the United Nations, a long speech on the weapons of mass destruction allegedly held by the regime of Saddam Hussein. Arguments which had served to justify the invasion of the country.

He later admitted that this service was a “task” on his reputation: “It’s a stain because I’m the one who made this presentation on behalf of the United States to the world, and it will always be part of my record.”