Colin Luther Powell was born in New York City on April 5, 1937. The son of Jamaican immigrants, Luther and Maud Powell, was raised in the South Bronx. Powell was educated in the New York City public schools, and at City College of New York (CCNY). Heparticipated in ROTC at CCNY and received a commission as an Army second lieutenant upongraduation. He subsequently received a Master of Business Administration degree from George WashingtonUniversity.

Powell served two tours of duty in Vietnam, and as a battalion commander in Korea. He later commanded the 2nd Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and V Corps, United States Armyin Europe, and was Commander in Chief of Forces Command, head quartered at Fort McPherson, Georgia. General Powell was the 12th Chairmanof the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1, 1989 until September 30, 1993, servingunder both President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton.

General Powell has been the recipient of numerous U.S. military decorations, including the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal, and the Purple Heart. His civilian awards include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal, and an honorary knighthood (Knight Commander of the Bath) from the Queen of England. Heretired from the U.S. Army in 1993.

Between 1997 and 2001, retired General Powell served as founding chairman of America's Promise, an organization challenging Americans to make children and youth a national priority.

In January, 2001, General Powell was selected by President George W. Bush to serveas his Secretary of State. He was the first African-American to hold this high office in the United States Government. Powell stepped down from the position after President Bush's reelection to a second term. His four yeartenure as Secretary of State was marked by disagreements with other Administration officials over policy. Regardless of these disagreements, Secretary Powell remained a loyal servant of the Bush Administration and aneloquent spokes man for the Administration in international affairs.

After September 11, Powell's job became of critical importance in managing America's relationships with foreign countries in order to secure a stable coalition in the War on Terrorism. More recently, Powell has come under fire for his role in building the case for the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. In a press statement on February 24,2001 he had said that sanctions against Iraq had prevented the development of any weapons of mass destruction by Saddam Hussein.

Powell's chief role was to gain international support fora multi-national coalition to mount the invasion. To this end, Powell addressed a plenary session of the United Nations Security Council on February 5,2003 to argue in favour of military action. Citing "numerous" anonymous Iraqi defectors, Powellasserted 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”  So, it was Powell who told the United Nations and the world that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction and posed animminent threat. But on the other hand it was Powell, who in ABC News said, that he feels "terrible"about the claims he made in that now-infamous address — assertions that later proved to be false.

And on the question, if he feels it has tarnished his reputation, he said, "Of course it will. It's a blot. I'm the one who presented it on behalf of the United States to the world, and (it) will always be a part of my record. It was painful. It's painful now."

Colin Powell announced that he would not stay on as Secretary of Stateduring Bush's second term on Monday, November 15, 2004. He announced that he would stay on until the end of Bush's first term or until his replacement's confirmation by Congress. The following day, George W. Bush nominated National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, as Powell's successor. News of his decision to leave the Administration spurred mixed reactions from politicians around the world—some upset at the loss of astatesman seen as a moderating factor within the Bush administration, but others hoping for Powell's successor to wield more influence within the cabinet, and thus be a more credible negotiator. Powell left his position as Secretary of State with the admiration and respect of people around the world.

Since leaving government service, Secretary Powell has assumed a number of private-sector positions. In July, 2005, he became a strategic limited partner with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a silicon valley venture capital firm. He has become a more active participant at The Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies, the City College of New York in 1997. In May, 2006, Powell will succeed Henry Kissinger to become the 8th Chairman of the Eisenhower Fellowship Program.

Powell is married to the former Alma Vivian Johnson of Birmingham, Alabama. The Powell family includes son Michael and daughters Linda and Annemarie; daughter-in-law Jane, and grandsons Jeffrey and Bryan.

Colin Powell is still important person of current political life. In these days he has been opposing the government and the president whit his point of view on Iraqinvasion.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powellsaid on Sunday 30. april, he had made the case to President George W. Bush for the United States to send more troops to Iraq to deal with the after math of the war.

In an interview with ITV, Powell said there had been debates about the size of the force and how to deal with the aftermath. "The aftermath turned out to bemuch more difficult than anyone had anticipated," said Powell, adding he had favoured a larger military presence to deal with the unforeseen. "I don't think we had enough force there to impose order," he said on the ITV’s Jonathan Dimbleby programme. "I made the case to General (Tommy) Franks, to (Defence) Secretary (Donald) Rumsfeld and to the president that I was not sure we had enough troops," he said.

He argued, however, that his view was not ignored but that those responsible for the troop levels believed they had the appropriate number. His comments come amid public concern in the United States over Iraq, which has been a factor in driving Bush's approval ratings to the lowest of his presidency.

Since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, the U.S. military death toll in Iraq has risen to nearly 2,400. Iraqimilitary deaths are estimated at up to 6,370 and Iraqi civilian deaths at up to 38,600.

After the invasion, Rumsfeld said U.S. military commanders believed there were sufficient troops to establish peace. However, amid increasing violence and to establish security in time for elections, troop levels were later increased.

Bush has not set a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal, saying American soldiers will pull out as Iraqiforces take over fighting Sunni rebels and sectarian violence which has pushed Iraq to the edge of civil war.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, appearingon CNN's "Late Edition," said she did not remember "specifically what Secretary Powell may be referring to, "I'm quite certain that there were lots of discussions about how best to fulfill the mission when we went into Iraq." Miss Rice said Mr. Bush "asked time and time again" whethe reverything needed to execute the plan was available, "and he was told'yes,''

Maybe is Powell only trying to “cleanse” his reputation in connection with Iraq invasion, but on  the other hand, is really interesting to findout the new actualities of this case. Perhaps once, we will know the real reason of this invasion. And I have to say, that I ‘m appreciative of every explicative fact of the difficult and inticate political life, what Powell’s statement de facto is.

Vocabulary

Commission- vojenská hodnosť (rank-inmilitary)
Lieutenant- poručík (commissionedofficer)
Underfire- byť skritizovaný/zodpovedný za niečo(criticized or heldresponsiblefor something)
Imminent- bezprostredný, hroziaci (threatening)
To spur- urýchliť,popoháňať (to provoke, to stimulate)
To anticipate- predvídať, očakávať (to foresee, to preclude)
To withdrawal- ukončenie, skončenie (to end, to departure)