By Joan Garvin

Celebrity Forum moderator Dick Henning, left, greets Colin Powell during his visit last week.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell addressed the Celebrity Forum audience at Flint Center last week on his experiences as a world leader.

But the most important message Powell conveyed may have been in his reactions to the 150 or so organized protesters who attempted to disrupt the program, presumably due to Powell’s previous support for the war in Iraq.

The pre-program demonstration was vocal, but contained by a phalanx of campus police and Santa Clara County sheriffs.

Shortly after host Dick Henning introduced Powell, the fire alarm system was activated. Powell commented, “Someone ought to know where the switch is.”

Over the reverberating alarm, Powell said, “Happy Veterans Day” and asked the veterans to stand. Enthusiastic applause overrode the noise as Powell praised all who had served. He added those who died, “died to be sure we have freedom of expression.”

The alarm was secured and Powell expanded on his belief that “Free speech is an important component of democracy, (which) is founded on a clash of ideas,” Powell said. “They’ve had their say, now I’m going to have my say.”

He began with anecdotes about the difficulties of transitioning from one of the most recognized and powerful positions in the world to … “well, Colin Powell.”

Powell admitted to having enjoyed the trappings of his post: a jet awaiting him, an honor guard escorting him, security protecting him and the plane leaving at his arrival. The route from that to standing arms-out at an airport during a body scan was short.

Six minutes later, the alarms went off again, effectively blocking further speech. “Gone from a way of protest to juvenile delinquency,” Powell said.

His prepared speech included a definition of leadership: Its mission in any field is to convey “vision and purpose to a group. Good leaders do it with enthusiasm … take people far above where they can go.” His response to the intermittent harassment demonstrated leadership more clearly than words.

At 8:33 p.m., a whistle interspersed with shouted pejoratives began. When security attempted to remove the protester, he presented a dead weight wedged between rows. They carried him away to Powell’s wry “a little on the heavy side” and applause from the audience.

“We’ll work our way through this. Stick with me,” Powell said.

Powell recalled his military experiences from his first command 50 years ago as a second lieutenant posted in Germany with 40 soldiers assigned to “stop the Russian Army.”

He used humorous anecdotes to illustrate that serious differences among nations sometimes can be defused with patience and understanding. When expanding countries like China and India challenge the United States, he suggested, “Power does not come out of the barrel of a gun, but through trade.”

He directly addressed the question, “Why did Bush rely on faulty intelligence and you present it at the United Nations?”

Before Powell went to the UN, he said he checked the intelligence. “It was the most solid we had,” he explained. Powell said the same intelligence was provided to Congress, the president and the cabinet - and to President Clinton. Britain, France and Germany also agreed with it.

Powell said the intelligence was right on the history of weapons of mass destruction and that Saddam kept the capability of using them, but wrong in claiming they were currently stockpiled.

“We weren’t lying or misleading - it was the best judgment we had. … It turned out to be false. We didn’t learn that until we got in there,” Powell said.

The evening’s program concluded differently from the norm when the De Anza College President Brian Murphy, gave specific directions for egress because of the continuing disturbance.