Making his case for the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Colin Powell presented Washington's evidence to the U.N. Security Council, including a vial of anthrax and photographs of purported WMD in the country. Though this was not an official meeting of the General Assembly, the arguments placed before the Security Council regarding the U.S. invasion of Iraq were of tantamount importance and played an integral role in the conflict that has taken thousands of military and civilian lives yet uncovered no weapons of mass destruction.