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‘A Deck of Many Things’: Reflections on Colin Powell and Iraq, 20 Years Later

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‘A Deck of Many Things’: Reflections on Colin Powell and Iraq, 20 Years Later
"Iraq Cards." MidJourney AI creation by Charles Faint
Battlefields Staff
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Commentary
Editor’s Note: February of 2023 marked the 20th anniversary of then-Secretary of State Colin Powell’s now-infamous speech to the United Nations, which is seen as a decisive point in the U.S. decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003.  In this jointly-written article, The Havok Journal’s owner, Charlie Faint, and editor-in-chief, Mike Warnock, describe very different experiences during their total of 5 deployments to Iraq, and reflect on how they feel 20 years after Colin Powell’s speech and the decision to send our country to war.
Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Charles Faint served 27 years as an officer in the U.S. Army. During his time in uniform he served seven combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq while assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group, the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, and the Joint Special Operations Command. He holds an MA in International Affairs from Yale University and in retirement serves as the Chair for the Study of Special Operations in the Modern War Institute at West Point. This article represents his personal reflections on the war in Afghanistan and is not an official position of the United States Military Academy or the United States Army.
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