Hot Take: 'You break it, you own it,' Powell said about Iraq — and he was right

We embrace and endorse the outpouring of eloquent remembrances and testimonials for Colin Powell, one of America’s most honorable and accomplished statesmen, who passed away on Oct. 18. 

'Always part of my record.' Powell said his presentation to the UN Security Council on Feb. 5, 2003, in which he made the case against dictator Saddam Hussein based on what turned out to be mostly faulty intelligence about Iraq’s weapons programs, was a "blot" that "will always be part of my record."

'The only one.’ But focusing on Powell’s Security Council presentation does a disservice to his critical role as a voice of caution among the war cabinet of President George W. Bush. Powell won a few battles along the way, and Iraq policy was the better for them. He helped snuff the early discussion of an attack on Iraq at Camp David on Sept. 15, 2001, just four days after the al-Qaeda attack on the United States, and later convinced Bush, despite opposition from Vice President Dick Cheney and others, to pursue UN Security Council Resolution 1441, passed unanimously on Nov. 8, 2002, giving teeth to the UN weapons inspections regime and putting Saddam on notice about the seriousness of US intentions.