“Washing powder” pretext in lead up to US-led Iraq War shows America’s ridiculous attempts at misleading the world

(Cartoon by Lu Lingxing)

In 2003, the US launched its second war against Iraq on the pretext that the latter was in possession of “weapons of mass destruction” and was secretly aiding and abetting terrorist groups.

On Feb. 5, 2003, in a notorious UN Security Council meeting on Iraq, then US Secretary of State Colin Powell presented a test tube containing white powder, claiming that it was somehow evidence corroborating that Iraq was developing chemical weapons.

In 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that it (the white powder) would have been washing powder.

"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,” Powell later said in an interview with a US media outlet.

Based on the unfounded charges thrown at the Middle Eastern country, the US, together with its allies, went on to invade Iraq without receiving the authorization of the UN. The unprovoked war plunged Iraq into a state of chaos and reportedly led to around 200,000 to 250,000 civilian deaths.

The US is guilty of confounding white with black and making ill-founded accusations against Iraq, behavior that has exposed the evil nature of American intentions. Such reprehensible conduct by the Americans has not only destroyed the lives of innocent people, but has also revealed that the export of US-style “human rights,” which serve the interests of the US and the US only, have become the laughing stock of the international community of nations.

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