Former general, secretary of state, and chief of staff Colin Powell who helped con the world into another war in the Middle East died Monday at the age of 84 due to complications from COVID-19 according to a statement released by his family.
Still, the “con” Powell was able to orchestrate in front of the world when he went to the United Nations to lie about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction is gravely underestimated. Powell by all accounts was a war criminal who got off scot-free for his high profile swindling that not only led to the deaths of thousands of U.S. soldiers but the deaths of countless numbers of people in the Middle East which continues to this day. Because Powell was all-in on continuing America’s greatest export, deadly imperialism, that only fattens the pockets of U.S. corporations, especially those in the defense industry, and creating power vacuums in vulnerable parts of the world.
Meanwhile, corporate media in the United States waxes nostalgic on Powell as some great general and statesman without calling him out for who he actually was.
Powell’s bloody legacy though didn’t begin with the second Iraq War. One of Powell’s first assignments in simping for the American Empire occurred when he was a 31-year-old Army Major tasked with investigating a letter penned by then 21-year-old Tom Glen, a U.S. soldier in the 11th Light Infantry Brigade who detailed American brutality toward the Vietnamese.
It would indeed be terrible to find it necessary to believe that an American soldier that harbors such racial intolerance and disregard for justice and human feeling is a prototype of all American national character; yet the frequency of such soldiers lends credulity to such beliefs. … What has been outlined here I have seen not only in my own unit, but also in others we have worked with, and I fear it is universal. If this is indeed the case, it is a problem which cannot be overlooked, but can through a more firm implementation of the codes of MACV (Military Assistance Command Vietnam) and the Geneva Conventions, perhaps be eradicated.
The conclusion of Glen’s letter
The letter was originally addressed to MACV commander General Creighton Abrams and in a broader sense highlights one of the many atrocities undertaken by U.S. troops during the Vietnam War. One of those atrocities was the My Lai massacre in which U.S. troops killed between 347 and 504 unarmed South Vietnamese men, women, and children.
Although Glen’s letter didn’t mention My Lai specifically, Powell continued to cover for American Empire by whitewashing the details of Glen’s account writing in his report that “In direct refutation of this portrayal is the fact that relations between American Division soldiers and the Vietnamese people are excellent.”
Powell has never been implicated in any of the wrongdoing involving My Lai. No evidence ties him to the attempted cover-up. But he was part of an institution (and a division) that tried hard to keep the story of My Lai hidden—a point unacknowledged in his autobiography. Moreover, several months before he was interviewed by Sheehan, Powell was ordered to look into allegations made by another former GI that US troops had “without provocation or justification” killed civilians. (These charges did not mention My Lai specifically.) Powell mounted a most cursory examination. He did not ask the accuser for more specific information. He interviewed a few officers and reported to his superiors that there was nothing to the allegations [see “Questions for Powell,” The Nation, January 8/15, 2001]. This exercise is not mentioned in his memoirs.
The Nation
Aside from Powell’s shitty legacy, I would be amiss without also pointing out the circumstances surrounding his death and the shitheads trying to use it to undermine the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccines developed to help battle it.
Take MCSN dipshit Franc Analysis…
Yes, Powell died from COVID complications according to his family, and yes he was also apparently fully vaccinated, yet clowns like Franc Analysis couldn’t resist the opportunity to further spread unfounded uncertainty when it comes to the COVID vaccine and feeds into his bullshit contingent on the left.
Then again, whatever MCSN can do to generate clicks and not offer any solutions to ANYTHING happening in the world.
