Colin Powell was a Vietnam War veteran, a four-star general, and—among other high-level positions in the U.S. government—the Secretary of State under George W. Bush. Powell was well known for his conviction that the United States should go to war only when the likelihood of victory was overwhelming. But then the Bush Administration used his popularity to persuade the public to support the Iraq War, which became one of the greatest military calamities in U.S. history. Dexter Filkins joins Dorothy Wickenden to discuss Powell’s long record of public service, and how he shaped post-Cold War foreign policy.
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Colin Powell’s Fateful Moment
Though Powell created a doctrine of avoiding war unless absolutely necessary, he will be remembered for making the faulty case for invading Iraq.
By Dexter Filkins
Postscript
Colin Powell, the Humble American
He broke racial barriers under four Presidents and called America “the last best hope of earth,” but also admitted to failing his country in selling the Iraq War.
By Robin Wright
Q. & A.
Biden’s Increasingly Contradictory Israel Policy
A former State Department official explains the Administration’s sharpening public critique of Israel’s war and simultaneous refusal to “impose a single cost or consequence.”
By Isaac Chotiner
The Weekend Essay
Is This Israel’s Forever War?
Foreign-policy analysts whose careers were shaped by the war on terror see troubling parallels.
By Keith Gessen