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Powell Fails to Make Case
This "Opposing View" editorial was published first in USA Today on February 6, 2003.

As international and domestic doubts and opposition to war grow, Secretary of State Colin Powell was dispatched to the United Nations to make the Bush administration's case for pre-emptive war against Iraq. The good soldier's message is likely to carry enormous weight in shaping public opinion. But he failed to make a compelling case.

Powell's multimedia presentation contained many specific allegations but little new information or proof of the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. There was no smoking gun. Instead, nearly all of the evidence was largely circumstantial or speculative. (Indeed, hours before Powell spoke, UN weapons inspections chief Hans Blix denied or discounted four claims central to Powell's indictment.) ...