On October 18, according to US media reports, former US Secretary of State Colin Powell died at the age of 84. Video/Beijing News our video
According to CNN, Colin Powell, the first black secretary of state in the United States, former chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Republican Colin Powell, died of complications from the new crown at the age of 84.
On February 5, 2003, Powell became famous for pulling out a test tube filled with white powder at the United Nations Security Council as evidence of Iraq's use of chemical weapons of mass destruction. This counterfeiting incident was later dubbed the "laundry detergent incident." As a result, Powell was recognized by many people in the outside world as a militant. But throughout Powell's political career, as the US media commented, Powell was "more like a politician" than pompeo, a former secretary of state with a military background.
The "American Dream model" has also suffered racial discrimination
Powell is a descendant of Jamaican immigrants. His father worked as a plantation worker, building manager, and garment factory freight foreman after immigrating to the United States in his early years, and his mother also worked in a garment factory. His family was originally a supporter of the Democratic Party, but his father turned to support the Republican Party in 1952, which set the stage for Powell to become a Republican.
US President Joe Biden mourned the passing away of former Secretary of State Jerome Powell. Video/Beijing News our video
Powell became a soldier in 1958. He first served in the U.S. Guard Corps in West Germany, then in Vietnam, where he served as an adviser to the South Vietnamese Army, deputy battalion commander of the U.S. Army, chief of the Division Training Section, and fought twice in the Vietnam War in 1962 and 1968. He then spent a year as a battalion commander for U.S. forces in South Korea. After returning to China, Powell gradually rose from Pentagon staff officer to assistant secretary of defense, commander of army force command, national security adviser to the president, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and secretary of state.
Powell was deeply used in the three presidencies of Reagan, Bush Sr., and George W. Bush. Reagan once wrote in a greeting card to Powell: "Colin, everything you say is right. ”
Judging from his resume, Powell's political career can be said to have been smooth, powell also described his past as "a love story" in the preface to his autobiography "My American Road", and President George W. Bush also praised Powell as "an American hero, an American role model and a great American story." ”
But in fact, from Powell's parents to Powell himself, he has suffered a lot of racial discrimination. When Powell joined the army, white officers and soldiers were not allowed to enter the same church as black officers, and when he became an officer, he could not dine in the same restaurant as white people, nor could he stay in a good hotel when he married. Although Powell was later packaged as a model for the "American Dream" for Americans of color, he reflected: "How can this country serve and fight for it when it refuses to give us basic rights?" ”
Always grumpy about the "laundry detergent" incident
After entering the decision-making level, Powell participated in many major U.S. military decisions. For example, the invasion of Grenada, air raids on Libya, the formulation of the "Star Wars plan", the invasion of Panama, the Gulf War, etc., especially after the Gulf War, Powell was regarded as an American hero.
In February 2003, Powell testified before the United Nations Security Council holding up a test tube saying Iraq was developing chemical weapons. In March of the same year, the U.S.-British coalition launched the Iraq War on this ground. Video/Beijing News our video
But the "laundry detergent" incident at the United Nations Security Council meeting on February 5, 2003, brought a stain to Powell. Holding a reagent bottle of unknown origin, he declared: "Saddam Hussein could kill tens of thousands of people with such a little anthrax."
Powell was secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration. The secretary of state is the fourth person in the U.S. political sequence, so it is his duty to advocate and shout for the United States to start the Iraq War. But Powell was not a supporter of the Iraq war. Supporting the war were vice president Cheney, who had real influence on U.S. decision-making at the time, Rice, the president's national security adviser, and Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, among other neoconservative generals.
Among them, Cheney is still Powell's military "Bole" - it was Cheney's recommendation that Powell became chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Perhaps it was the pressure of this intricate power structure that forced Powell to show falsified evidence in the Security Council.
After his complete retirement from the secretary of state, Powell has always been angry about this matter. He once said it was a "pain and stain on his personal record." February 5, 2003, is always remembered like his birthday.
However, Powell never clearly explained why he presented such a perjury in the Security Council. He later slammed then-Defense Minister Rumsfeld and ambassador to Iraq Paul. Bremer's measures in Iraq hint at the possibility of being misled.
Once lashed out at Trump
Relatively speaking, after quitting the political arena, Powell has let go a lot in speech. In the 2016 U.S. election, he supported Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton rather than fellow Republican Trump. Despite reports, as early as 2014, Powell was quite disgusted with Hillary Clinton's "arrogance".
In the 2020 election, Powell did not vote for Trump, and he also publicly accused Trump of being "a threat to American democracy" and "has been lying a lot".
Powell's move made Trump furious, and poked Powell's sore spot with the "washing powder" incident, saying on Twitter that "Powell is a real die-hard, and he should be responsible for our involvement in the catastrophic War in the Middle East." ”
Former US Secretary of State Powell passed away, and the White House and State Department lowered their flags to half-mast in mourning. Many senior officials in US political circles have successively expressed their condolences. Video/Beijing News our video
Powell's attitude toward China is relatively rational. During his tenure as secretary of state, he repeatedly said that the United States could not treat China as an enemy. After his retirement, he also said many times that China's development is an opportunity for the world. In 2018, 81-year-old Powell strongly attacked Trump's series of China policies in an interview with CNN, saying that "China is not an enemy... You can work with the Chinese side, provided that you respect them, not through threats. Regarding the Sino-US trade friction, Powell said, "This is something that none of us want to see... We should remain open to China. ”
Powell wrote in the concluding remarks of his autobiography: "I found my own philosophy, though I did not find a political conversion. Powell, who set several records in U.S. politics, including the youngest chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the first black secretary of state, ultimately did not find a sense of political belonging. Have the activists in American politics today found it?
Special Writer 丨 Xu Lifan
Editor 丨Chi Daohua
Proofreading 丨 Wang Xin