United States paid tribute Friday to the "general diplomatic " Colin Powell , the first African American secretary of state who died on October 18 during a national funeral in the cathedral of Washington.
In the presence of President Joe Biden and his wife Jill and the main leaders of the Pentagon, the former head of diplomacy Madeleine Albright spoke of " a character who almost transcended history, because its virtues were Homeric : honesty, dignity , loyalty and unwavering firmness commitment to their profession and to the fulfillment of his word . "
" The soldiers loved him , respected him and his adversaries in the State Department was much more popular than its predecessor ," joked Albright , Colin Powell 's successor as head of the State Department .
Next to the presidential couple were former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle , his predecessor George W. Bush and his wife Laura , and the former first lady and former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Her husband Bill Clinton, who was recently hospitalized with an infection , was absent .
He died at the age of 84 from complications related to Covid -19 . Colin Powell was the first African American and the youngest man to serve as Chief of Staff of the Army from 1989 to 1993 , before becoming the first black secretary of state under Republican President George W. Bush.
His son Michael Powell paid tribute to his military commitment . " He loved soldiers , yet the heart of it ," he said. " He knew that you can not ask the soldiers what he is not willing to do."
Son of Jamaican immigrants born in Harlem , Colin Powell enlisted in 1958 in the US Army , where he rose in all ranks before becoming chief of staff , becoming known for his management of the first War of the Gulf against Iraq in 1991 .
Known for his moderate positions , he saw his tarnished career when he played an unwavering support for the Iraq war as he was the top diplomat George W. Bush.
On February 5, 2003 he delivered a long speech to the Security Council of the UN on weapons of mass destruction that Iraq allegedly possessed , arguments used to justify the invasion of the country. In particular , there was stirred a flask containing , according to him, Anthrax , an image that has remained famous .
He later admitted that this action was a " blot" on his reputation .
He had married his wife Alma in 1962 and had three children : Michael , Linda and Annemarie .
Date Of Update: 08 November 2021, 23:39
