• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Rumsfeld steadfast as unyielding Iraq war defender

Posted on: Friday, 17 March 2006, 11:44 CST

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the craftsman and unyielding defender of the Iraq war, was recently asked how he thought history would treat him.

"You know, I don't have the vaguest idea. But I'll tell you this: I don't worry about it," Rumsfeld said during an appearance before the Washington press corps.

"I can tell you one thing for sure," Rumsfeld added. "The people writing the news today, tomorrow and the next day are not writing history. It will take a little while, a little perspective."

The energetic 73-year-old Rumsfeld is inching closer to passing Vietnam War era Pentagon chief Robert McNamara as the longest-serving defense secretary.

Admirers see Rumsfeld as a patriot who reinvigorated a military weakened by insufficient funding in the 1990s, devised innovative war plans that toppled the Taliban leaders of Afghanistan and President Saddam Hussein in Iraq, and remains vigilant against the threat of terrorism.

Detractors see Rumsfeld as a reckless warmonger who botched the Iraq occupation planning, failed to anticipate a bloody insurgency, sent U.S. troops into combat without enough armor, jeopardized the viability of the all-volunteer military and sullied America's reputation by sanctioning detainee abuse.

"He's definitely one of the most intriguing secretaries of defense we've ever had, not just because he's one of the longest lasting," said Brookings Institution defense analyst Michael O'Hanlon. "He is inherently a polarizing kind of guy in a polarizing time."

Much as Vietnam defined McNamara's legacy, Iraq will define Rumsfeld's legacy, for better or worse, analysts said.

"I do think that this is Rumsfeld's war, and I think Rumsfeld thinks this is Rumsfeld's war," said Heritage Foundation defense analyst James Carafano, who added that Rumsfeld's legacy largely depends upon whether the Iraqis are able to grab ahold of their own country.

'VERY DIFFICULT'

Rumsfeld acknowledged Iraq remains "clearly a very difficult situation," with worrisome sectarian violence and political uncertainty. But he steadfastly defends the war in which more than 2,300 U.S. troops have died as an action that has helped make the United States safer.

"Three years into the operation in Iraq, I recognize that well-meaning people can ask, 'Why is it important that we complete the mission?' Similar questions have been asked about our country's efforts in other eras," Rumsfeld said this week.

"But consider what the world would be like if, whenever things seemed to go wrong or to have grown more difficult than expected, the Americans and their leaders in that generation had simply thrown in the towel rather than persevering."

Defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute drew parallels between Rumsfeld and McNamara, Pentagon chief from 1961 to 1968, as two men who brought visions of transforming the military but who were diverted by wars.

Rumsfeld envisioned a leaner military strengthened by high technology and more elite special forces.

"It turns out that Rumsfeld's technology-driven vision of future war doesn't have much to do with the challenge posed by terrorists," Thompson added. "How else can you explain the world's biggest, best-funded military getting tied down by a handful of insurgents? The real tragedy of Rumsfeld's failure is that he has ended up giving every extremist in the world the game plan for stalemating America."

Rumsfeld has persevered, as one of a handful of President George W. Bush's original Cabinet secretaries still on the job, joining Labor Secretary Elaine Chao and Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. Interior Secretary Gale Norton's resignation is effective this month.

Rumsfeld, who also held the post under President Gerald Ford from 1975 to 1977, has said he twice offered his resignation in 2004 amid the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal only to have Bush turn him down.

"He's stuck it out when lesser men would walk away," Carafano said. "I don't care what you call that, hubris or whatever. I truthfully think just changing the captain on the ship wouldn't have made any difference. If anything, it may have slowed things down because at least that captain knows the mistakes he made."

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category