Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell died today at the age of 84. According to what was communicated by the family on his Facebook page, the cause of death would be attributed to “complications related to Covid-19”. It is not known at the moment what kind of illness was fatal to him.
“We have lost an extraordinary husband, father, grandfather and a great American,” the family members continue via social media, underlining how Powell had completed the vaccination cycle.
The memory of former President Bush: “deeply sorry”
While the reactions of the White House are awaited, former Republican President George W. Bush commented on the news through an official statement, declaring himself “deeply sorry” for the loss of a figure who has marked American foreign policy in the years of his presidency. . Colin Powell was “a great public servant from the time he served as a soldier in Vietnam,” adds the Republican. “He was highly respected at home and abroad. And, more importantly, Colin was a family man and friend. Laura and I send our sincere condolences to Alma and their children, ”adds the note. Bush’s words were joined by the first reactions from the world of US politics and the military: «The world has lost one of its greatest leaders. He has been my mentor for years, with him I also lose an extraordinary friend, “he commented Pentagon number one, Lloyd J. Austin. General Martin Dempsey, former US Chief of Staff, was also among the first to express condolences, followed by the Republican senator Mitt Romney, who called Powell “a man of indomitable courage devoted to the cause of freedom.
Today, the nation lost a man of undaunted courage and a champion of character. A statesman & trailblazer, devoted to America and the cause of liberty, Colin Powell’s legacy of service & honor will long inspire. Ann & I offer our love & sincere condolences to Alma and his family.
– Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) October 18, 2021
The African American world also received with sorrow the news of Powell’s disappearance. Il Black Caucus of the United States Congress, that is, the group that gathers the black deputies who historically defend the African American cause, expressed itself via Twitter:
We are deeply saddened by the passing of General Colin Powell, the first Black Secretary of State and the youngest Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His legacy of valor, and integrity will resonate for generations to come.
Our prayers are with his family and loved ones. https://t.co/Tuy8N2Dypa
— The Black Caucus (@TheBlackCaucus) October 18, 2021
The words of the former British Prime Minister came from abroad Tony Blair, who spoke of Powell as a “phenomenal leader”, capable of being at the same time “a warm companion with a sense of humor and self-irony.”
Colin Powell: from childhood in the Bronx to the famous denunciation of Saddam’s weapons at the UN
General Powell was one of the most popular characters in the United States according to the American analysis firm Gallup. His personal story seems to embody the stereotype of the “American dream”, so much so that in the past he has collected bipartisan consensus on a possible and never made candidacy for the White House. Born in 1937 in Harlem, New York’s black ghetto, the first African American secretary of state in US history grew up in the harsh and multi-ethnic environment of the Bronx. His father, a Jamaican immigrant, worked as a foreman in a clothing company and little Colin cut his teeth as a boy. Then came his studies in geology, the university and finally the military, where Powell was the protagonist of a rapid rise to the top. Wounded in Vietnam, surviving a helicopter crash, Powell entered the White House in 1972, as an assistant to then Undersecretary Frank Carlucci. In 1987 Ronald Reagan appointed him to lead the military major states. With Bush the father and the current Vice President Dick Cheney, then head of the Pentagon, Powell was one of the main architects of “Desert Storm”, the first Iraq war of 1991. Already then his doctrine emerged: first diplomatic efforts, weapons as a last resort. The strategic input was simple, America was to intervene in the world‘s hot scenarios only when the political goal was clear and military supremacy overwhelming. It was Powell who persuaded Bush Sr., after the reconquest of Kuwait, to give up the attempt to eliminate Saddam Hussein. Ten years later, the appointment as secretary of state sparked the reactions of the African-American community: the boy who grew up in the ghetto, in their opinion, had essentially “sold” himself to theestablishment White. The second operation in Iraq, under George W. Bush, is at the origin of the increasingly close confrontation between Powell and the Republican administration. The former secretary of state still considers the intervention he made at the UN to denounce Saddam’s mass weapons “a stain” in his reputation.
Powell was skeptical from the start of the conflict and worried about the military force sent to fight, which he felt was insufficient. The position of the Secretary of State resulted in numerous internal battles with the Cheney Hawks and Defense Minister Donald Rumsfeld, which almost always ended in Powell’s defeat. After leaving office – in 2004 Bush replaced him with Condoleeza Rice – Powell tried not to publicly criticize the administration’s choices, but he did not silence his dissent on the White House’s decision to appoint John Bolton as ambassador to the UN. not to apply the Geneva Convention to Guantanamo detainees, and for the serious delays in rescuing the victims of Hurricane Katrina. “Whoever is president in January” – said Powell last year, during the Biden election campaign – Trump, “will have to deal with the reality of a military force that cannot continue to support the commitment of 140,000 men in Iraq and 20-25 thousand in Afghanistan and elsewhere ».