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In reply to the discussion: Colin Powell, military leader and first Black US secretary of state, dies [View all]cab67
(2,992 posts)He was asked to investigate a letter claiming abuse on the part of US forces against Vietnamese civilians.
The letter didn't mention My Lai, though - the writer of the letter wouldn't have known much about it. The massacre happened before Powell arrived in Vietnam, and I don't know how much contact he'd have had with those were there. The reports available to him claimed that most of those killed were "enemy combatants" and that only a small number of civilians were inadvertently caught in the crossfire. These reports were flat-out lies, but Powell might not have known that. So whether Powell actually looked into that particular incident, or how much he'd have learned, are open questions.
(Whether he should have known about is another matter - and solving it would require a thorough investigation of everything Powell had been told up to the point he submitted his report.)
That being said, I would agree that the report he submitted didn't take the claims in the letter seriously enough. That is, indeed, a stain on his record. And whether he knew about it or not, given his role in the Amerocal Division, he certainly should have known. I hold the report against him, but am undecided on how much responsibility for knowing (or not knowing) about the massacre should be laid at his feet.
As an aside - I remain forever shocked that so few Americans know who Hugh Thompson was.