Former US secretary of state Colin Powell has died of COVID-19 complications. He was 84. His family said Powell was fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. A veteran of the Vietnam War, Powell spent 35 years in the Army and rose to the rank of four-star general before becoming the first Black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His oversight of the US invasion of Kuwait to oust the Iraqi army in 1991 made him a household name. He joined President George W. Bush's administration in 2001 as Secretary of State, the first Black person to represent the US government on the world stage. Powell's tenure, however, was marred by his 2003 address to the United Nations Security Council in which he cited faulty information to claim that Saddam Hussein had secretly stashed weapons of mass destruction. Such weapons never materialized, and though the Iraqi leader was removed, the war devolved into years of military and humanitarian losses.<br />'' <br />''<span style="color: #222222;">In a Washington, Democrats and Republicans recalled Powell fondly. Flags were ordered lowered at government buildings, including the White House, Pentagon and State Department. President Joe Biden said Powell embodied the highest ideals of both warrior and diplomat.</span><br />