Trump said it was “wonderful to see Colin Powell, who made big mistakes on Iraq and famously, so-called weapons of mass destruction, be treated in death so beautifully by the Fake News Media”.In a statement released by his political action committee, Save America, Trump added: “Hope that happens to me someday”.“He was a classic RINO, if even that, always being the first to attack other Republicans,” Trump wrote in the statement. “He made plenty of mistakes, but anyway, may he rest in peace!”But Trump’s reaction to Powell’s death was criticised on Twitter, including by Democreative Rep. Ted Lieu of California. “So how does this statement from the former President of the United States make you feel as an American?” Lieu tweeted.Per the Daily Mail, political scientist Larry Sabato said: “No decent human being will defend Trump’s malevolent, spiteful, narcissistic statement on Gen. Powell.”“But those Republicans who keep silent today will speak volumes about how Trump has debased them and their once-great party.“Candidates with no courage never deserve our votes,” Sabato tweeted.‘A GREAT AMERICAN’General Colin Powell, the influential former secretary of state and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who played a pivotal policy role during the administration of then-President George W Bush, has died at 84 from complications related to Covid-19.“We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American,” his family said in a statement, adding that he was fully vaccinated.The statement continued, “We want to thank the medical staff at Walter Reed National Medical Centre for their caring treatment.”The 84-year-old retired four-star general was fully vaccinated, his family said, making him one of the most high-profile US public figures to die of a breakthrough infection.He was also battling Parkinson’s and blood cancer at the time. His wife Alma also had Covid-19 but had responded to treatment, according to reports.Powell’s family confirmed his death on Facebook, but it is not clear if he had received a booster shot. It’s also not clear when he got his Covid-19 diagnosis and how long he had been hospitalised for. US President Joe Biden led an outpouring of tributes from home and abroad, describing the officer-turned-statesman as a breaker of racial barriers who believed in “the promise of America” and always put country before self.“Colin embodied the highest ideals of both warrior and diplomat. He was committed to our nation’s strength and security above all,” said Mr Biden, who spent decades in the Senate and worked frequently with Gen. Powell.“Having fought in wars, he understood better than anyone that military might alone was not enough to maintain our peace and prosperity. From his front-seat view of history, advising presidents and shaping our nation’s policies, Colin led with his personal commitment to the democratic values that make our country strong.” He also ordered all US flags across government buildings and military posts nationwide to fly half staff until October 22.“Jill and I are deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend and a patriot of unmatched honour and dignity, General Colin Powell,” he said. “The son of immigrants, born in New York City, raised in Harlem and the South Bronx, a graduate of the City College of New York, he rose to the highest ranks of the United States military and to advise four presidents. “He believed in the promise of America because he lived it. And he devoted much of his life to making that promise a reality for so many others.“As a Senator, I worked closely with him when he served as National Security Adviser, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and as Secretary of State. Over our many years working together – even in disagreement – Colin was always someone who gave you his best and treated you with respect.”Vice President Kamala Harris also commended Powell as the first black Joint Chiefs chair, Secretary of State and national security adviser.“What an incredible American. He obviously served with dignity, he served with grace. He was the epitome of what it means to be strong, but at the same time, so modest in terms of everything that he did and said, in a way that it was never about him and it’s about the country, and it was about the people who served with him,” Harris told reporters aboard Air Force 2.“Every step of the way, when he filled those roles, he was – by everything he did and the way he did it – inspiring so many people.” Former President George W. Bush described Gen. Colin Powell as “a great man.”“He was a great public servant, starting with his time as a soldier during Vietnam. Many Presidents relied on General Powell’s counsel and experience. He was National Security Adviser under President Reagan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under my father and President Clinton, and Secretary of State during my Administration,” the former president said in a statement on Monday local time. Another former president, Jimmy Carter, called the soldier a “true patriot” whose courage “will be an inspiration for generations to come”.After engineering military victory in the 1991 Gulf War, Gen. Powell was so widely popular and respected that he was considered a strong candidate to become the first ever Black US president.He ultimately decided against running for the White House, although he later broke with his Republican Party to endorse Barack Obama.A son of Jamaican immigrants, Gen. Powell frequently shattered glass ceilings in a pioneering career that took him from combat in Vietnam to becoming America’s first Black national security adviser under then-president Ronald Reagan.He was also the first African American and youngest chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Reagan’s successor, George H.W. Bush.Serving four presidents, Powell made his reputation as a man of honour distant from the political fray — an asset in the corridors of power.George W. Bush described Gen. Powell as “an American hero, an American example, and a great American story” when he nominated the professional soldier to be secretary of state in 2000, making him fourth in the presidential line and, up to then, the highest-ranking Black US public official ever.“He was highly respected at home and abroad. And, most important, Colin was a family man and a friend,” the 43rd president said on Monday local time.Former President Barack Obama called Powell “an exemplary soldier and an exemplary patriot.”“And although he’d be the first to acknowledge that he didn’t get every call right, his actions reflected what he believed was best for America and the people he served,” he said. Obama said he was “deeply appreciative” that Powell not only endorsed him in 2008 but “what impressed me more was how he did it.”“At a time when conspiracy theories were swirling, with some questioning my faith, General Powell took the opportunity to get to the heart of the matter in a way only he could,” he said. He recalled a time Powell corrected someone on Obama’s religious faith.“What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?“That’s who Colin Powell was.”‘TRUE SOLDIER STATESMAN’Gen. Powell had a reputation for bipartisanship, straight talk and integrity, and was praised for his officer’s instincts of duty and honour.Israeli former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu led the international tributes, noting Gen. Powell’s dedication to public service. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters Gen. Powell was among the “greatest leaders that we have ever witnessed,” lamenting the loss of “a tremendous personal friend and mentor.” But Gen. Powell found it hard to live down his infamous February 2003 speech to the United Nations Security Council about the alleged existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq — evidence which was later proven to be false.“It’s a blot … and will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It’s painful now,” Powell said in a 2005 interview with ABC News.Tributes nevertheless poured in from Congress, where Democratic Senator Mark Warner praised Gen. Powell as “a patriot and a public servant,” while centrist Republican Senator Mitt Romney mourned the loss of “a man of undaunted courage and a champion of character.” Former British prime minister Tony Blair, who stood firmly behind US actions in Iraq and gave military backing to the war effort, described Gen. Powell as a “towering figure in American military and political leadership”.MAJOR FIGURE IN US POLITICSBorn April 5, 1937 in Harlem, Colin Luther Powell’s “American Journey” — the title of his autobiography — started in New York, where he grew up and earned a degree in geology.He received a commission as a second lieutenant in the US Army, and was posted in what was then West Germany.Gen. Powell completed two tours of duty in Vietnam — in 1962-63 as one of John F. Kennedy’s thousands of military advisers, and again in 1968-69 to investigate the My Lai massacre.He earned a Purple Heart, but also faced questions about the tone of his report into the hundreds of deaths at My Lai, which to some seemed to dismiss any claims of wrongdoing.Back in Washington, he quickly rose through the ranks to the pinnacle of the national security establishment, serving Reagan as national security adviser, and both George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton as Joint Chiefs chairman from 1989 to 1993.Gen. Powell freely admitted his liberal social views made him a strange bedfellow for many Republicans, though the party was often happy to hold him up as an example of its inclusivity.But from 2008, he endorsed Democrats for the presidency, twice backing Mr Obama, and then Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden.Gen. Powell earned a number of civilian honours, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice — from Bush Senior and Clinton.He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Alma, and their three children Michael, Linda and Annemarie.“We have lost a remarkable and loving husband, father, grandfather and a great American,” the family said.– with AFP
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