Colin Powell's Tenure Marked by Frustrations Over Iraq War

  

• Secretary of State Clashed With Cheney and Rumsfeld
  

Colin Powell may be remembered as the U.S. secretary of state who ended up a victim of his biggest success: his role in making the public case for the war in Iraq. As President George W. Bush's principal diplomatic spokesman, Powell in February 2003 appeared before the United Nations Security Council to argue for the need to confront Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Displaying satellite images, playing intercepted telephone conversations and brandishing a vial he described as representative of the deadly anthrax virus, Powell told a worldwide audience that Iraq was a dire threat. Since the invasion, the U.S. has not found evidence to support those claims, and Powell had to acknowledge that some of them may have been based on flawed intelligence, damaging his credibility. He conceded in January 2004 that it was an ``open question'' whether Iraq had stocks of weapons of mass destruction. He also acknowledged that he had no ``smoking gun'' to prove a link between Hussein's government and al-Qaeda, another allegation he had made at the UN. [more] and [more] Yeah yeah blah blah. He got played. Like Ice Cube said,"he knew the game and still ended up lying on his back . Now ask yourself, who's the Mack?"  He also said they'll get a new NUH next year. RIP ODB.