Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has grown increasingly outspoken as Election Day draws closer, criticizing former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s support of President Barack Obama for this year’s election during a pair of media appearances during the week.
“I’m just saddened because, you know, I used to be a great admirer of Colin Powell. We were friends. I think one of the sad aspects of his career is going to the United Nations Security Council and telling them things about Iraq that were absolutely false,” McCain told Fox News Radio’s “Kilmeade & Friends” on Thursday.
“All I can say is that Gen. Powell, you disappoint us and you have harmed your legacy even further by defending what has clearly been the most feckless foreign policy in my lifetime,” he added.
On Friday, McCain continued his attacks on Powell during an interview with National Review Online, blaming Powell for America’s involvement in Iraq.
“Colin Powell, interestingly enough, said that Obama got us out of Iraq,” McCain said. “But it was Colin Powell, with his testimony before the U.N. Security Council, that got us into Iraq.”
As the Huffington Post reports, McCain was vocal in his support of U.S. intervention in Iraq, referring to the transition of the war on terror into Iraq as the “second phase” during an Oct. 18 appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman.
“If the terrorists attack us because of our plans in Iraq, isn’t that proof that Iraq and the terrorists are two faces of the same danger?” McCain asked in USA Today op-ed in Feb. 2003.
In the years since Powell’s address to the U.N. Security Council in 2003, he has expressed regret over his role in the escalation of the war on terror. Powell also endorsed President Obama in the 2008 election over McCain.
