It must have been really “painful” for Colin Powell to sit in front of Barbara Walters of ABC on the night of Sept. 9, 2005 and admit that his involvement in the invasion of Iraq was a permanent “blot” on his record.

As the first African-American to serve as the U.S. Chief of Staff and then Secretary of State, Powell’s regret was mainly because of a speech he delivered to the United Nations Security Council on Feb. 5, 2003.