Editing Colin Powell (section)

==Secretary of State (2001–2005)==
{{Main|Foreign policy of the George W. Bush administration|List of international trips made by Colin Powell as United States Secretary of State}}

[[File:Condoleezza Rice Colin Powell George W. Bush Donald Rumsfeld.jpg|thumb|Powell, National Security Advisor [[Condoleezza Rice]] and Secretary of Defense [[Donald Rumsfeld]] listen to President [[George W. Bush]] speak]]
President-elect [[George W. Bush]] named Powell as his nominee to be secretary of state in a ceremony at his ranch in [[Crawford, Texas]] on 16 December 2000.<ref name=appointment/> This made Powell the first person to formally accept a Cabinet post in the Bush administration,<ref name=appointment>{{Cite web|last=Clark|first=Tony|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/16/bush.powell/index.html|title=Bush names Powell as choice for U.S. secretary of state|date=December 16, 2000|publisher=CNN|access-date=November 6, 2021|archive-date=April 25, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425082443/https://edition.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/16/bush.powell/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Vulliamy|first=Ed|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/dec/17/usa.uselections20001|title=Bush chooses Powell|date=December 17, 2000|website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> as well the first black [[United States secretary of state]].<ref name="NYT Obit"/> As secretary of state, Powell was perceived as moderate. Powell was unanimously confirmed by the [[United States Senate]] by voice vote on 20 January 2001,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/107th-congress/100|title=PN100 – Colin Luther Powell – Department of State, 107th Congress (2001–2002)|access-date=November 6, 2021|language=en-US|website=[[U.S. Congress]]|date=January 20, 2001}}</ref> and ceremonially sworn in on 26 January.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/26/bush.powell/index.html|title=Powell ceremoniously sworn in as secretary of state|date=January 26, 2001|publisher=CNN|access-date=November 6, 2021|archive-date=April 28, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428232509/https://edition.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/26/bush.powell/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media|people=Powell, Colin Luther|date=January 26, 2001|title=Secretary of State Swearing-In Ceremony|language=en-US|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?162185-1/secretary-state-swearing-ceremony|location=The White House, Washington, D. C.}}</ref> Over the course of his tenure he traveled less than any other U.S. Secretary of State in thirty years.<ref name=WashingtonPost_Kessler_20040714 >{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48010-2004Jul13.html|title=Powell Flies in the Face of Tradition; The Secretary of State Is Least Traveled in 30 Years|author=Kessler, Glenn|date=July 14, 2004|page=A01|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=August 25, 2017|archive-date=June 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200606004416/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48010-2004Jul13.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This is partly attributed to a letter from former diplomat [[George F. Kennan]], who advised Powell to focus on his duties as the president's principal foreign policy advisor and avoid trips that risked undercutting the duties of the [[Ambassadors of the United States|ambassadors]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Kessler|first=Glenn|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna5433036|title=Colin Powell no globe-trotter|date=July 14, 2004|publisher=NBC News}}</ref>

On [[September 11 2001|September 11, 2001]], Powell was in [[Lima]], Peru, meeting with president [[Alejandro Toledo]] and attending a meeting of foreign ministers of the [[Organization of American States]].{{sfn|Steins|2003|p=116}}{{sfn|DeYoung|2006a|pp=338–339}} After the [[September 11 attacks|terror attacks that day]], Powell's job became of critical importance in managing the United States of America's relationships with foreign countries to secure a stable coalition in the [[War on Terrorism]].{{citation needed|date=November 2021}} Powell’s diplomatic skills led to immediate [[Consensus decision-making|consensus]], and the [[Inter-American Democratic Charter]] was approved by acclamation on September 11, 2001. The charter is regarded as one of the most comprehensive inter-American documents, created to promote and strengthen democratic ideas, practices, and culture among the states of the Americas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Secretary of State Colin Powell and 9/11 – Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training |url=https://adst.org/2021/11/secretary-of-state-colin-powell-and-9-11/ |access-date=2025-05-03 |website=adst.org}}</ref>

===2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq===
{{Main|Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations Security Council}}
{{Blockquote|quote=My second purpose today is ... to share with you what the United States knows about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction ... Iraq's behavior demonstrate that Saddam Hussein and his regime have made no effort ... to disarm as required by the international community. Indeed, the facts and Iraq's behavior show that Saddam Hussein and his regime are concealing their efforts to produce more weapons of mass destruction ... every statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence.|author=Colin Powell|source=''Address to the United Nations Security Council''<ref name=UNSC_Powell_20030205>{{cite web |title=Remarks to the United Nations Security Council |publisher=US Department of State |first=Secretary Colin L. |last=Powell |location=New York City |date=February 5, 2003 |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/secretary/former/powell/remarks/2003/17300.htm |access-date=October 21, 2021 |archive-date=February 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205163122/http://2001-2009.state.gov/secretary/former/powell/remarks/2003/17300.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Powell came under fire for his role in [[Rationale for the Iraq War|building the case]] for the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]]. A 2004 report by the [[Iraq Survey Group]] concluded that the evidence that Powell offered to support the allegation that the Iraqi government possessed [[weapons of mass destruction]] (WMDs) was inaccurate.<ref name="Guardian2004">{{cite news |date=October 6, 2004 |title=Iraq had no WMD – inspectors |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/06/usa.iraq1 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=October 21, 2021 |archive-date=October 21, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021083639/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/06/usa.iraq1 |url-status=live }}</ref> As early as 2000 on the day Powell was nominated to be Secretary of State he told the press "Saddam is sitting on a failed regime that is not going to be around in a few years time".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Moens |first1=Alexander |author-link1=Alex Moens |title=The Foreign Policy of George W. Bush Values, Strategy, and Loyalty |date=2017 |publisher=Taylor & Francis}}</ref>

In a press statement on 24 February 2001, Powell had said that [[International sanctions|sanctions]] against Iraq had prevented the development of any [[weapons of mass destruction]] by [[Saddam Hussein]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wood|first=B. Dan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cPsfAwAAQBAJ|title=Presidential Saber Rattling: Causes and Consequences|date=2012|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-1-139-53669-1|language=en|doi=10.1017/CBO9781139108720|page=141|access-date=October 19, 2021|archive-date=October 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020123705/https://books.google.com/books?id=cPsfAwAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Powell favored involving the international community in the invasion, as opposed to a [[Unilateralism|unilateral approach]].{{sfn|DeYoung|2006a|p=401}}

[[File:Powell UN Iraq presentation, alleged Mobile Production Facilities.jpg|thumb|300px|Computer-generated image of an alleged [[Mobile weapons laboratory|mobile production facility for biological weapons]], presented by Powell at the UN [[The UN Security Council and the Iraq war|Security Council]]. On 27 May 2003, U.S. and British experts examined the trailers and declared they had nothing to do with [[biological weapon]]s.<ref name=WashingtonPost_Warrick_20060412 >{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/11/AR2006041101888.html?sub=AR|title=Lacking Biolabs, Trailers Carried Case for War; Administration Pushed Notion of Banned Iraqi Weapons Despite Evidence to Contrary|author=Warrick, Joby|date=April 12, 2006|page=A01|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=August 25, 2017|archive-date=December 30, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161230125315/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/11/AR2006041101888.html?sub=AR|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
[[File:Colin Powell anthrax vial. 5 Feb 2003 at the UN.jpg|thumb|Powell holding a [[2001 anthrax attack|model vial of anthrax]] while giving a presentation to the [[United Nations Security Council]] in February 2003]]

Powell's chief role was to [[The UN Security Council and the Iraq war|garner international support]] for a multi-national [[coalition]] to mount the invasion. To this end, Powell [[United Nations Security Council and the Iraq War#Colin Powell's presentation|addressed a plenary session]] of the [[United Nations Security Council]] on 5 February 2003, to argue in favor of military action.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Borger|first=Julian|date=October 18, 2021|title=Colin Powell's UN speech: a decisive moment in undermining US credibility|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/18/colin-powell-un-security-council-iraq|access-date=October 19, 2021|work=[[The Guardian]]|language=en|archive-date=October 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018235947/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/oct/18/colin-powell-un-security-council-iraq|url-status=live}}</ref> Citing numerous anonymous Iraqi defectors, Powell asserted that "there can be no doubt that Saddam Hussein has [[biological weapons]] and the capability to rapidly produce more, many more". Powell also stated that there was "no doubt in my mind" that Saddam was working to obtain key components to produce nuclear weapons.<ref name=UNSC_Powell_20030205/> Powell stated that he gave his speech to the UN on "four days' notice".<ref>{{Cite news|date=September 11, 2011|title=Powell regrets Iraq failings|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2011/9/11/colin-powell-regrets-iraq-war-intelligence|access-date=October 19, 2021|publisher=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]]|language=en|archive-date=October 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018215023/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2011/9/11/colin-powell-regrets-iraq-war-intelligence|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Breslow|first=Jason M.|date=May 17, 2016|title=Colin Powell: U.N. Speech 'Was a Great Intelligence Failure'|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/colin-powell-u-n-speech-was-a-great-intelligence-failure/|access-date=October 19, 2021|website=[[Frontline (American TV program)|Frontline]]|language=en-US|archive-date=May 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519134118/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/colin-powell-u-n-speech-was-a-great-intelligence-failure/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Britain's ''[[Channel 4 News]]'' reported soon afterwards that a [[Iraq Dossier|British intelligence dossier]] that Powell had referred to as a "fine paper" during his presentation had been based on old material and [[plagiarism|plagiarized]] an essay by American graduate student [[Ibrahim al-Marashi]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/529|title=U.S. Scholar Uncredited in Iraq Report|last=Lawless|first=Jill|date=February 7, 2003|agency=Associated Press|access-date=June 26, 2009|archive-date=December 4, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071204043055/http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/529|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CNN_20030207">{{Cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/02/07/sprj.irq.uk.dossier/index.html|publisher=CNN|title=UK accused of lifting dossier text|date=February 7, 2003|access-date=October 20, 2007|archive-date=March 8, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308162110/http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/02/07/sprj.irq.uk.dossier/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

A Senate report on intelligence failures would later detail the intense debate that went on behind the scenes on what to include in Powell's speech. State Department analysts had found dozens of factual problems in drafts of the speech. Some of the claims were taken out, but others were left in, such as claims based on the [[yellowcake forgery]].<ref name=LAT_Miller_20040715>{{Cite news  |last = Miller  |first = Greg  |title = Flaws Cited in Powell's U.N. Speech on Iraq  |work = Los Angeles Times  |date = July 15, 2004 |url = http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0715-05.htm  |access-date = February 3, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070212121956/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0715-05.htm  |archive-date = February 12, 2007 |url-status = dead  |df = mdy-all  }}</ref> The administration came under fire for having acted on faulty intelligence, particularly that which was single-sourced to the informant known as [[Curveball (informant)|Curveball]]. Powell later recounted how Vice President [[Dick Cheney]] had joked with him before he gave the speech, telling him, "You've got high poll ratings; you can afford to lose a few points". Powell's longtime [[aide-de-camp]] and Chief of Staff from 1989 to 2003, Colonel [[Lawrence Wilkerson]], later characterized Cheney's view of Powell's mission as to "go up there and sell it, and we'll have moved forward a peg or two. Fall on your damn sword and kill yourself, and I'll be happy, too".<ref name=DeYoung2006>{{Cite news  |last = DeYoung  |first = Karen |author-link=Karen DeYoung |title = Falling on His Sword: Colin Powell's most significant moment turned out to be his lowest  |newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]  |date = October 1, 2006 |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/27/AR2006092700106.html  |access-date = February 3, 2007 |archive-date = October 7, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081007160519/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/27/AR2006092700106.html  |url-status = live  }}</ref>

In September 2005, Powell was asked about the speech during an interview with [[Barbara Walters]] and responded that it was a "blot" on his record. He went on to say, "It will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It's painful now".<ref name=ABC_20050908>{{Cite news  |title = Colin Powell on Iraq, Race, and Hurricane Relief  |work = ABC News: 20/20  |date = September 8, 2005 |url = https://abcnews.go.com/2020/Politics/story?id=1105979&page=1  |access-date = February 3, 2007 |archive-date = December 10, 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131210165636/http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Politics/story?id=1105979&page=1  |url-status = live  }}</ref>

Wilkerson later said that he inadvertently participated in a hoax on the American people in preparing Powell's erroneous testimony before the United Nations Security Council.<ref name=PBS_Brancaccio_20060203>{{Cite news  |last = Brancaccio  |first = David  |title = Iraq Pre-War Intelligence  |work = [[NOW (PBS)|NOW]]  |publisher = PBS  |date = February 3, 2006 |url = https://www.pbs.org/now/politics/wilkerson.html  |access-date = February 3, 2007 |archive-date = March 12, 2014 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140312155935/http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/wilkerson.html  |url-status = live  }}</ref>

As recounted in ''Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell'', in 2001 before 9/11, [[Richard A. Clarke]], a [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] holdover from the Clinton administration, pushed the new Bush administration for action against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, a move opposed by [[Paul Wolfowitz]] who advocated for the creation of a "U.S.-protected, opposition-run 'liberated' enclave around the southern Iraqi city of Basra".{{Sfn|DeYoung|2006a|pp=344–45}} Powell referred to Wolfowitz and other top members of Donald Rumsfeld's staff "as the 'JINSA crowd,' " in reference to the pro-Israel [[Jewish Institute for National Security of America|Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs]].{{Sfn|DeYoung|2006a|p=356}} Again invoking "the JINSA crowd" Powell also attributed the decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003 to the [[neoconservative]] belief that regime change in Baghdad "was a first and necessary stop on the road to peace in Jerusalem".{{Sfn|DeYoung|2006a|p=388}}

A review of ''Soldier'' by [[Tim Rutten]] criticized Powell's remarks as a "blot on his record", accusing Powell of slandering "neoconservatives in the Defense Department – nearly all of them Jews" with "old and wholly unmeritorious allegations of dual loyalty".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rutten |first=Tim |date=October 9, 2006 |title=Powell biography involves a game of connect the blots |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-oct-09-et-book9-story.html |access-date=October 20, 2021 |archive-date=October 18, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018131510/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-oct-09-et-book9-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> A 2007 article about fears that Jewish groups "will be accused of driving America into a war with the regime in Tehran" cited the DeYoung biography and quoted JINSA's then-executive director, Thomas Neumann, as "surprised" Powell "would single out a Jewish group when naming those who supported the war". Neumann said, "I am not accusing Powell of anything, but these are words that the antisemites will use in the future".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Forward Staff |date=February 2, 2007 |title=Groups Fear Public Backlash Over Iran |work=Forward |url=https://forward.com/news/10004/groups-fear-public-backlash-over-iran/ |access-date=October 20, 2021 |archive-date=September 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210919043641/https://forward.com/news/10004/groups-fear-public-backlash-over-iran/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.jpg|thumb|upright|Secretary Powell with NATO Secretary General [[Jaap de Hoop Scheffer]]]]

Once [[Saddam Hussein]] had been deposed, Powell's renewed role was to once again establish a working international coalition, this time to assist in the rebuilding of post-war Iraq. On 13 September 2004, Powell testified before the [[Senate Governmental Affairs Committee]],<ref name=WashingtonPost_Pincus_20040914>{{Cite news  |last = Pincus  |first = Walter  |title = Support for Intelligence Plan  |newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]  |date = February 14, 2004 |url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18890-2004Sep13.html  |access-date = February 3, 2007 |archive-date = August 7, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070807234455/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18890-2004Sep13.html  |url-status = live  }}</ref> acknowledging that the sources who provided much of the information in his February 2003 UN presentation were "wrong" and that it was "unlikely" that any stockpiles of WMDs would be found. Claiming that he was unaware that some intelligence officials questioned the information prior to his presentation, Powell pushed for reform in the intelligence community, including the creation of a national intelligence director who would assure that "what one person knew, everyone else knew".<ref>{{Cite news|last=Pincus|first=Walter|date=September 14, 2004|title=Support for Intelligence Plan|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18890-2004Sep13.html|access-date=August 25, 2017|archive-date=January 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190108052732/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18890-2004Sep13.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Other foreign policy issues===
Additionally, Powell was critical of other aspects of [[U.S. foreign policy]] in the past, such as its support for the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état]] that deposed the democratically elected president [[Salvador Allende]] in favor of [[Augusto Pinochet]]. From two separate interviews in 2003, Powell stated in one about the 1973 event: "I can't justify or explain the actions and decisions that were made at that time. It was a different time. There was a great deal of concern about communism in this part of the world. Communism was a threat to the democracies in this part of the world. It was a threat to the United States".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/irp/news/2003/02/dos022003.html |title=Remarks at the 2003 Groundhog Job Shadow Day Program, Secretary Colin L. Powell, Remarks and question and answer session with students, Washington, DC, January&nbsp;31, 2003, excerpt on 1973 Chile coup, Federation of American Scientists |publisher=Fas.org |access-date=August 29, 2010 |archive-date=November 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120093326/http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2003/02/dos022003.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In another interview, he also simply stated: "With respect to your earlier comment about Chile in the 1970s and what happened with Mr. Allende, it is not a part of American history that we're proud of."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/irp/news/2003/02/dos022003.html |title=Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, Interview On Black Entertainment Television's Youth Town Hall, February&nbsp;20, 2003, excerpt on 1973 U.S. covert action in Chile, Federation of American Scientists |publisher=Fas.org |access-date=August 29, 2010 |archive-date=November 20, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120093326/http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2003/02/dos022003.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:US Navy 050105-N-6020P-115 Secretary of State Colin Powell speaks to members of the international press about the United State's involvement in disaster relief at a press conference held at the Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia airport.jpg|250px|thumb|left|Powell in [[Banda Aceh]] speaking on United States's involvement in recovery efforts following the [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami]] with [[Alwi Shihab]] wearing green.]]
In the [[Hainan Island incident]] of 1 April 2001, a United States US [[Lockheed EP-3|EP-3]] surveillance aircraft collided mid-air with a Chinese [[Shenyang J-8]] jet fighter over the South China Sea.<ref name="Zhao-2023">{{Cite book |last=Zhao |first=Suisheng |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9781503634152 |title=The Dragon Roars Back: Transformational Leaders and Dynamics of Chinese Foreign Policy |date=2023 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=978-1-5036-3415-2 |location=Stanford, California |pages=64|doi=10.1515/9781503634152 }}</ref> While somewhat ambiguous, Powell's expression of "very sorry" was accepted as sufficient for the formal apology that China had sought.<ref name="Zhao-2023" /> The incident was nonetheless a serious flare-up in [[China–United States relations|United States-China relations]] and created negative feelings towards the United States by the Chinese public and increased public feelings of [[Chinese nationalism]].<ref name="Zhao-2023" />

In September 2004, Powell described the [[Darfur genocide]] as "genocide", thus becoming the first cabinet member to apply the term "genocide" to events in an ongoing conflict.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hamilton|first=Rebecca|date=August 17, 2011|title=Inside Colin Powell's Decision to Declare Genocide in Darfur|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/08/inside-colin-powells-decision-to-declare-genocide-in-darfur/243560/|access-date=January 25, 2021|website=The Atlantic|language=en-US|archive-date=January 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122204931/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/08/inside-colin-powells-decision-to-declare-genocide-in-darfur/243560/|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Wikinews|Colin Powell Resigns as U.S. Secretary of State, Rice Likely Successor}}
In November the president "forced Powell to resign", according to [[Walter LaFeber]].{{sfn|LaFeber|2009|p=71}} Powell announced his resignation as Secretary of State on 15 November 2004, shortly after Bush was reelected. Bush's desire for Powell to resign was communicated to Powell via a phone call by Bush's chief of staff, [[Andrew Card]].<ref name=DeYoung2006/> The following day, Bush nominated National Security Advisor [[Condoleezza Rice]] as Powell's successor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=254647|publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|title=Bush Nominates Rice to Be Secretary of State|date=January 7, 2006|access-date=November 24, 2021|archive-date=November 16, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041116094509/https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=254647}}</ref>

In mid-November, Powell stated that he had seen new evidence suggesting that Iran was adapting missiles for a nuclear delivery system. The accusation came at the same time as the settlement of an agreement between Iran, the [[International Atomic Energy Agency|IAEA]], and the European Union.<ref name=NYT_Sciolino_20041118>{{Cite news  |last = Sciolino  |first = Elaine  |title = Exiles Add to Claims on Iran Nuclear Arms  |work = [[The New York Times]]  |date = November 18, 2004 |url = http://www.nci.org/04nci/11/pbs/ExilesAdd.htm  |access-date = February 8, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070102013832/http://www.nci.org/04nci/11/pbs/ExilesAdd.htm  |archive-date = January 2, 2007 |url-status = dead  |df = mdy-all  }}</ref>

Although biographer Jeffrey J. Matthews is highly critical of how Powell misled the United Nations Security Council regarding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, he credits Powell with a series of achievements at the State Department. These include restoration of morale to psychologically demoralized professional diplomats, leadership of the international [[HIV/AIDS]] initiative, resolving a crisis with China, and blocking efforts to tie Saddam Hussein to the [[9/11 attacks]] on the United States.{{sfn|Matthews|2019|pp=321, 379–85}}