Back in 2003 I was covering the United Nations for the Portuguese newspaper Expresso (I’m proud to say I was once a correspondent for The Guardian) when Colin Powell made a statement to the press outside the Security Council following his infamous speech justifying the invasion of Iraq: “What we're giving you are facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence.”  All of which later proved to be a pack of lies.  After his statement, Powell walked to the UN Delegates Lounge surrounded by his security detail.  I walked alongside, tape recorder in hand, and shouted a question to Powell: where did the information about Iraqi acquisition of uranium yellowcake come from?  One of his detail gestured to the UN cops trailing us and I was suddenly slammed into the wall and pinned to the ground.  Question time over.