R.I.P. Colin Powell

[newboots]

I just felt like posting this. A great man, flawed, but great nonetheless.
Apparently he died from complications of Covid, although vaccinated. (Not that we need a thread about Covid OR vaccines.)

The Iraq war “intelligence” issue he later considered a stain on his record. His refusal to endorse Republican presidential candidates from 2008 on created a great deal of publicity, and his loyalty to a traditional set of Republican values was much admired.

Rest In Peace, Colin Powell.

 

[Eric@ict]

He was a great leader, I wished he had run for President.

 

[Jim Kenney]

Nothing flawed about him. Great soldier/statesman/person. I worked in the Pentagon at the time he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. There was an issue that I helped bring attention to that eventually ran across his desk. He supported our recommendation and it carried the day.

 

[Jim McDonald]

R.I.P.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

Truly a great man and a leader of multiple generations of military men and women.

 

[Bad Bob]

A truly great American. Oh to have more like him.
His willingness to stand up and take blame just confirmed his strength.

 

[DocGKR]

I enjoyed serving under him and would have supported him if he ran for President.

 

[James]

Sad. A good friend’s uncle in the Navy was an aide for awhile back when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. He was very impressed by him.

 

[Dakine]

Great guy who made one big mistake.
Proves the old saying "One Aw Shit wipes out a thousand Attaboys."

 

[Uncle-A]

He was a great leader, I wished he had run for President.

I agree, he should have run for President, he would have been a great one.

 

[newboots]

Great guy who made one big mistake.
Proves the old saying "One Aw Shit wipes out a thousand Attaboys."

At least for me, it didn’t wipe out the human of integrity that he was. He was fallible, with tragic consequences, but remains a much-admired man for his principled behavior

 

[Jwrags]

I agree, he should have run for President, he would have been a great one.

Completely agree. I always thought he was too smart to run for president. He did not want to suffer through the political bs that comes with running or subject his family to it.

 

[Tony Storaro]

Ahhh, THAT speech from February 2003, I remember it as it was yesterday!
Great man, great man!

R.I.P.

 

[GB_Ski]

I have upmost respect for him. I can't overlook the two mistakes in his career.

Thinking back, I wonder if it wasn't G.W. Bush in 2000, he would've run for the president.

 

[scott43]

I always felt back then that he toed the WMD line for his boss. I'm not sure how realistic that is but I wanted to believe that he didn't really buy it but did it to do his job basically. I have his book around here somewhere.. RIP

 

[jt10000]

Great guy who made one big mistake.
Proves the old saying "One Aw Shit wipes out a thousand Attaboys."

At least he owned up it.

He and my mom were friends from growing up in the Bronx, and around the second Iraq invasion was being promoted she emailed him "What are doing???!" She saw it was probably a scam and certainly a mistake.....and she was "just" a retired school teacher.

He was too loyal/gullible and not willing to assume the worst about others in power. Lots of us saw through it - not based on evidence but instead on who was behind it. The messenger is often are important as the message - and lefties like me tended to assume most of that administration was lying or at least too reckless with war.

Great man overall. But that mistake was a self-own.

 

[AmyPJ]

I always admired his integrity. People make mistakes, but if they have little to no integrity, I have not much respect. I had a ton of respect for him.

He was battling multiple myeloma at the time of his death is my understanding. His immune system was already pretty shaky as a result.

 

[Andy Mink]

He was battling multiple myeloma

My Dad had MM. There's no going back on it. Five years with it was a long time. To have that and C19, well that is awful.

 

[Laurel Hill Crazie]

He was a great Soldier/Statesman in the finest American tradition. He regretted his UN WMD speech calling it a black mark on his record. If only we heeded the Powell Doctrine, how many lives saved both military and civilian, how many resources put to better use? We need more leaders like Colin Powell.

 

[Andy Mink]

Let's not go down a political road here, please.