Post # 186, Bob McKnight's Florida Commentary
"Rummy deeply resented being passed over by the Bush family for Vice President. And W knew it."
A highly placed GOP operative
By most accounts, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld earned positive marks for his professional career in politics. Consider:
He came from a prominent family and was an outstanding wrestler as a young athlete.
He was educated at Princeton University and studied law at Case Western Reserve and Georgetown, but without graduating.
He was elected to Congress from Illinois at the age of 30, serving 3 terms.
Climbing the Republican career ladder he became close friends with his colleague Gerald Ford, but disliked rising Texas Congressman George H.W. Bush. His two most important hires were freshman Congressman Dick Cheney and staffer Dr. Paul Wolfowitz, both of which became known as "Rummy's Band of Turks."
He served as a Naval Aviator and in multiple high level government positions.
After public service, he served in the most senior positions of business and industry with significant success.
He was seriously considered as a potential Republican candidate for President and Vice President, multiple times.
But, with renewed focus and discussion about closing down our longest war, 20 years in Afghanistan, the involvement of Rummy's Band of Turks has resurfaced. Consider:
From September 11, 2001, Rumsfeld is the one Republican that has insisted that Bin Laden's attack on America that day had connections with Saddam Hussein and Iraq. All evidence at the time indicated that there was no connection at the time. The location of Bin Laden was well known to be in Bora Bora, Afghanistan, but it said Rummy and his team let him slip away untouched because of their fixation on Hussein.
Rumsfeld's insistence on the connection between the attack and Iraq was rumored to come from a payback attempt for failing to take Hussein out in Operation Desert Storm by President Bush 41. Rummy also advanced the need to exploit consensus of support for war in America to aid in future GOP elections, for the need for oil, and from the intense Israeli lobby.
Rumsfeld is given credit for creating the false narrative of Iraq having weapons of mass destruction, and advancing that falsehood through such credible sources as General Colin Powell, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, CIA Secretary George Tenant, and most importantly, Vice President Dick Cheney.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once described Rumsfeld as "The most ruthless man" he knew.
George Packer of the Atlantic, once called Rumsfeld, "The Worst Secretary of Defense in American History."
His decisions made during his career had a significant effect on our country and Americans. But were they good or bad for our country?