WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Rumsfeld, the two-time defense secretary and one-time presidential candidate whose reputation as a skilled bureaucrat and visionary of a modern U.S. military was soiled by the long and costly Iraq war, died Tuesday, his family said in a statement. He was 88.
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Regarded by former colleagues as equally smart and combative, patriotic and politically cunning, Rumsfeld had a storied career under four presidents and nearly a quarter century in corporate America.
In 2001 he began his second tour as Pentagon chief under President George W. Bush, but his plan to “transform” the armed forces was overshadowed by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He oversaw the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, where he was blamed for setbacks including the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and for being slow to recognize a violent insurgency.
Another Reagan-Bush hawk gone. Infamously said ”Democracy is messy’ when trying to impose a ridiculous govt onto the even dumber Iraqi arabs. They’re still fighting over it 20 years later. What a waste.
Terrible bureaucrat, sent soldiers to war with old equipment, wrong intelligence and helped the ayatollas. Same as McCain, wanted war to spread ” democracy” to terrorists. Many gold star mothers will be happy tonight.
Rummy approved TORTURE and later denied it. He KNEW there was NO WMD in Iraq. He knew it but lied in Congress and on TV. He had a dismal record on every level. Feh.
Rumsfeld: Israel has right to hold war gains
One of the greatest American leaders. Ever.
I guess there are known knowns now