…by Jonas E. Alexis, VT Editor
Donald Rumsfeld, the man who was instrumental in defending the Iraq War, the man who perpetuated one categorical lie after another,[1] the man who has killed “400,000 people,”[2] is now dead.
It was Rumsfeld who forthrightly declared that the removal of Saddam Hussein had “created a more stable and secure world.”[3] That was another lie from Rumsfeld. As one report suggests, Rumsfeld lied “as easily as he breathed.”[4]
“He wrapped himself in a superficial understanding of epistemology (‘there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns…’) that a compliant press treated as sagacity. He wore a mask of assuredness, a con man’s trick, as he said things that bore no resemblance to the truth, such as his September 2002 insistence that he possessed “bulletproof” evidence of a nonexistent alliance between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda.”[5]
It was said that “Rumsfeld in Iraq waged a costly and divisive war that ultimately destroyed his political life and outlived his tenure by many years. But unlike McNamara, who offered mea culpas in a 2003 documentary, “The Fog of War,” Mr. Rumsfeld acknowledged no serious failings and warned in a farewell valedictory at the Pentagon that quitting Iraq would be a terrible mistake, even though the war, the country learned, had been based on a false premise — that Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader, had been harboring weapons of mass destruction.”[6]
Without hesitation, Rumsfeld wanted to send American soldiers to die in the Middle East for Israel, not for a good cause. He declared: “A conclusion by our enemies that the United States lacks the will or the resolve to carry out our missions that demand sacrifice and demand patience is every bit as dangerous as an imbalance of conventional military power. It may well be comforting to some to consider graceful exits from the agonies and, indeed, the ugliness of combat. But the enemy thinks differently.”[7]
Despite the fact that the war in Iraq turned out to be a total disaster—a war that will cost America at least six trillion dollars—Rumsfeld was still defiant to the end, positing one categorical lie after another in books such as Known and Unknown.
Rumsfeld was also instrumental in holding people in places like Guantanamo. What is even more revealing is that Lawrence Wilkerson, a former aide to Powell, announced that Bush, Chainey, and Rumsfeld knew that most of the prisoners held in the camp were innocent, but still detained them for political and ideological reasons.[8] Wilkerson’s announcement gained strength when it was discovered that of the almost 600 detainees, no more than 24 had any connection to al-Qaeda.[9] Yet many of the prisoners, if not all, were regularly tortured.[10]
The war on terror has turned the American government and politicians into savage people, reversing traditional American ideals strictly based on law. Indeed, before the war in Iraq, waterboarding was unknown in America, used by tyrant countries such as Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime.[11] Looking back, Colin Powell even admitted that it was torture. Donald Rumsfeld was one of those people who needed to be hanged. Will we miss him?
Absolutely not. Writer Spencer Ackerman has said it well: “The only thing tragic about the death of Donald Rumsfeld is that it didn’t occur in an Iraqi prison.”[12] If the New York Magazine is right in saying that Donald Rumself has built a “hell” for himself,[13] then perhaps it is time for him to taste his own medicine. “Iraq will be Rumsfeld’s legacy, with all of the lies, all of the torture, all of the killing.”[14]
- [1] “Wikileaks Shows Rumsfeld and Casey Lied about the Iraq War,” Daily Beast, July 14, 20217.
- [2] Spencer Ackerman, “Donald Rumsfeld, Killer of 400,000 People, Dies Peacefully,” Daily Beast, July 1, 2021.
- [3] “Donald Rumsfeld, Defense Secretary During Iraq War, Is Dead at 88,” NY Times, June 30, 2021.
- [4] Ackerman, “Donald Rumsfeld, Killer of 400,000 People, Dies Peacefully,” Daily Beast, July 1, 2021.
- [5] Ibid.
- [6] “Donald Rumsfeld, Defense Secretary During Iraq War, Is Dead at 88,” NY Times, June 30, 2021.
- [7] Ibid.
- [8] Tim Reid, “George W. Bush ‘Knew Guantanamo Prisoners were Innocent,’” The Times, April 9, 2010.
- [9] Tim Golden, “U.S. Said to Overstate Value of Guantanamo Detainees,” NY Times, June 21, 2004.
- [10] See Saar and Novak, Inside the Wire, and Dana Priest and Joe Stephens, “Pentagon Ap[10]proved Tougher Interrogations,” Washington Post, May 9, 2004.
- [11] William Safire, “Waterboarding,” NY Times, March 9, 2008.
- [12] Ackerman, “Donald Rumsfeld, Killer of 400,000 People, Dies Peacefully,” Daily Beast, July 1, 2021.
- [13] Sarah Jones, “The Hell Donald Rumsfeld Built,” New York Magazine, June 30, 2021.
- [14] Ibid.
Jonas E. Alexis has degrees in mathematics and philosophy. He studied education at the graduate level. His main interests include U.S. foreign policy, the history of the Israel/Palestine conflict, and the history of ideas. He is the author of the book, Kevin MacDonald’s Metaphysical Failure: A Philosophical, Historical, and Moral Critique of Evolutionary Psychology, Sociobiology, and Identity Politics. He teaches mathematics in South Korea.
ATTENTION READERS
We See The World From All Sides and Want YOU To Be Fully InformedIn fact, intentional disinformation is a disgraceful scourge in media today. So to assuage any possible errant incorrect information posted herein, we strongly encourage you to seek corroboration from other non-VT sources before forming an educated opinion.
About VT - Policies & Disclosures - Comment Policy
Gone to his hell for the Cosen onese “. May he burn there with his Zionist fellow Criminal Filth.
“USS LIBERTY”?? “9/11/2001”?? Who was Rumsfeld? Where was Rumsfeld? That IS the Question!! He wasn’t a PATRIOT that Is for SURE!!
Now face the music, demon; you will be held responsible for all lies, deception, shedding of innocent blood. Eternal damnation to thee; your papa Satan can’t save you now.
Well, damn. I can see no need to comment, as everything I could say has been said. Suffice it say, the world has one less sick-ass demon in it. Time for Cheney and babyBush to follow suit.
Donald Rumsfeld, along with Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz were founding members of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) which predicted in 1998 that the shift to US world domination would come about slowly, unless there were “some catastrophic and catalyzing event, like a new Pearl Harbor.” That event was, of course, 9/11. Rumsfeld had to have known that Israel would nuke us on that day and got away with it. Every American president since then, including Trump and Biden, has had to dance around this horrible truth.
Their prediction about US world domination, looks like it’s not working, the shine upon a hill Reagan’s were talking about, indeed was the beginning of America’s fire
Rumsfeld can go to hell and rot there. Aspartame. “The Butcher of Bagdad.” What a legacy. Responsible for more mass murder than almost anyone else in human history. What a piece of excrement.
This Rumsfeld said (OVER & OVER) “We know where the WMD’S in Iraq are”
“We know where they are. They are in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad.”
–March 30, 2003
https://www.counterpunch.org/2021/07/01/rumsfeld-on-iraqs-wmds-2003/
We know who CONTINUES to make the USA a WAR CRIMINAL country but we do NOHING ?
Thats the man who opened pandoras box.
He was an attorney for GD Searle, the drug dealers who first brewed up aspartame. I dont recall the FDA admins name back then, but he shot it down numerous times and refused to allow it on the market. When Monsanto bought GD Searle Rumsfeld came with the deal.
The first day Reagan walked into office, he fired that FDA admin and they brought in a hitman named Arthur Hull Hayes Jr. ..i guess brain farts are only alliwed here
Another great piece from Jonas.
The whole war was a con job, from 911 to what is happening tomorrow. Lies, miss representations, cover ups & a million dead.
“We The People” are all to quick in falling and bowing before these men who make vast sums of money at the expense of those who do not have enough to live a decent life. Who was responsible for the missing $2.300,000,000,000.00????????? Was it Rumsfeld…?????????????
That would be Dove Zakheim.
Rumsfeld was the Doctor Frankenstein who fathered the Authorization for Use of Military Force Act of 2001 which was used as legal framework for all American wars since 911 and now it seems the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is under discussion at a closed-door hearing for its abrogation.
There’s knowing we don’t know, and knowing we know, and then there’s not knowing if we know we don’t know, but we know we don’t know, but the real thing is knowing that we didn’t know but now we know we know.
The big but, who Knew ?
Days prior to 911 Rummy announced that 2.3 Trillion dollars were unacounted for in a Pentagon audit. He really needed a punch in the face back then.
This piece of work supplied chemical weapons to Saddam who killed thousands of Iranians and Kurds.
The thug thought of himself as a philosopher, what a joke. Through defense contracts he made millions. Just his real estate holdings in NM is a fine indication of being a prior sec of defense ….
Here the philosopher is trying to parrot a proverb from an old Persian poet Ahmad Naraghi that says:
“He who knows not and knows not that he knows not, is a fool … shun him.
He who knows not and knows that he knows not, is ignorant … teach him.
He who knows and knows not that he knows, is asleep … wake him.
He who knows and knows that he knows, is a wise man … follow him.”
https://youtu.be/REWeBzGuzCc
Thank God he will see his maker, I think they call him Satan!
Exactly….like netanyahoo….there are horns coming out of his head. The man is pure evil and the world is much better off with them dead.
And maybe we never know how deep was the degree of participation of this guy in 9/11
Adrian, Rumsfeld was deep, very very deep in it.
I can still see vividly see, the picture of Donald Rumsfeld running around outside the Pentagon on the morning of 09/11/2001 picking up small objects of wreckage debris.
I remember thinking at the time; something’s weird about that picture.
On perhaps the most consequential day in American history, why would the Secretary of “Defense” be doing such a menial thing, and not be in some highly secure situation room looking at the big picture?
Little did I know, He WAS looking at the big picture.
Don Rumsfeld was just as deep in it as anyone.
Comments are closed.