Middle East Eye said that the Iraqis will not grieve, nor will they shed tears, for the death of Colin Powell, the former US Secretary of State, the architect of the invasion of Baghdad in 2003, who died last Monday at the age of 84, as a result of being infected with the Corona virus.

And the British site - in a report - stated that for millions of Iraqis, Powell will be remembered as the person who provided false intelligence information to the United Nations about the existence and danger of alleged weapons of mass destruction, which he said were in the possession of the late President Saddam Hussein and his regime.

These allegations by Powell and his claim that Saddam had links to al-Qaeda - the site adds - helped raise the momentum of support for the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the ensuing years of chaos and bloodshed whose repercussions continue to this day.

Kamal Jaber, a former member of the Iraqi Civil Democratic Alliance and an opponent of Saddam's regime in the eighties and nineties of the last century, believes that the invasion of Iraq was a "disaster" in every sense of the word, stressing that although Powell enjoyed a good reputation as a politician, he failed to object to the 2003 war and "deliberate mistakes" Countless" perpetrated by Paul Bremer, the US governor of Iraq after the invasion.

He added that Powell chose to stand by and watch the massacres against Iraq and innocent Iraqis, and did nothing about it.

And he added, "Iraqis today are busy trying to save their country and are keeping tears for their peaceful young demonstrators and their sons who are being killed by militias and gangs loyal to Iran. Iraqis will not shed tears for Colin Powell."

The Iraqis hold Powell and the administration of former President George W. Bush responsible for launching and destroying the war on Iraq (Reuters)

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Despite his repudiation of his famous speech in 2003 at the United Nations, describing it as a "disgrace" in his career, the Iraqis hold Powell and his comrades in the administration of former President George W. Bush responsible for waging that "criminal war" on Iraq, according to the expression of a member of the Central Committee of the Iraqi Communist Party. Salam Ali.

Ali believes that "Powell's speech at the United Nations helped influence all those who were reticent about launching the war on Iraq inside and outside the United States."

He added that Powell was among the senior politicians in the US administration responsible for waging that war and misleading the world with fabricated information, and they should have been held accountable for what they did.

In turn, Ahmed Habib, editor of the Iraqi "Sheko Mako" news website in Baghdad, believes that Powell's image in Iraq cannot be polished, which has thwarted all attempts to show him as a pigeon that participated reluctantly, not willingly, in the war.

He added that Powell's legacy is manifested in the millions of lives destroyed, either killed or exiled, and the crumbling infrastructure that Iraqis are forced to endure daily, almost entirely caused by his own actions.

Political activist Ali al-Khayal, who grew up during the turmoil of the post-invasion period, said that the ultimate effect of Powell's actions was to "hand over Iraq to Iran while removing a source of threat to Israel".

He added: If it was really about saving Iraq, "the country would not have been handed over to a country with which an 8-year war took place... the United States was interested in saving Israel from Saddam's threat and was not interested in liberating Iraq. Colin Powell was also seeking to save Israel from those who threaten it."