Colin Powell, well known and well respected, died today at age 84 at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He was a former high ranking Army general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of State. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he guided the US military to victory in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. A decade later in 2003, he struggled over the US invasion of Iraq as a beleaguered Secretary of State. He harbored deep misgivings about the timing of the invasion and the size of the invading U.S. force.
As the Pentagon’s top officer, Powell played a prominent role in restoring a sense of pride to the nation’s post-Vietnam military and began the reshaping of American forces after the end of the Cold War. His famous prescription for the use of force, dubbed by journalists the Powell Doctrine, called for applying military force only with overwhelming and decisive troop strength, a clear objective, and popular support.
The cause of death was Covid-19, although Powell was fully vaccinated. However, he also had multiple myeloma, a form of cancer that leaves patients without a functioning immune system.
Colin Powell, the first Black US secretary of state, has died from complications from Covid-19. Follow here for the latest.
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