Colin Powell, Sep 6, 2015:
“If we had known the intelligence was wrong, we would not have gone into Iraq. But the intelligence community, all 16 agencies, assured us that it was right. My speech at the UN was based on that information. But guess what? 376 members of Congress, if I have my number correctly, voted on the basis of that intelligence, that it was something the president can do.
We tried to avoid it. I asked the president if we could take it to the United Nations, and we agreed, we took the case to the United Nations. All Saddam had to do to get out of jail at that time was to comply with the requirements of the United Nations. He chose not to. And the president decided, based on the intelligence that he had, and what he knew about the overall situation, that military force was necessary.”
Video clip: http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/colin-powell-invasion-iraq-badly-flawed-n422566
Transcript: http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-transcript-september-6-2015-n422606