Bush-era Defense Secretary Rumsfeld Dies At 88

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – Former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who oversaw the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and helped transform the American military, has died in Taos, New Mexico. He was 88.

In a statement Wednesday, Rumsfeld’s family said he “was surrounded by family in his beloved Taos, New Mexico.”

He will be remembered as a man whose policies made him one of history’s most consequential and controversial Pentagon leaders, friends and foes say.

He served 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. Rumsfeld’s plan to “transform” the armed forces under Bush was overshadowed by the September 11 terrorist attacks against the United States.

He soon oversaw the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

FACING SETBACKS

Rumsfeld faced setbacks during that turbulent time, including the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, and was criticized for being slow to recognize a violent insurgency.

However, Rumsfeld, in his 2011 memoir, “Known and Unknown,” expressed no regrets over the decision to invade Iraq, which had cost the United States $700 billion and 4,400 American lives.

He insisted that the removal of Iraq’s dictator Saddam Hussein had justified the effort. “Ridding the region of Saddam’s brutal regime has created a more stable and secure world,” he wrote.

He sidestepped the issue of whether the Iraq war had diverted resources from Afghanistan. Critics say those actions were leading to a Taliban resurgence there. “It was precisely during the toughest period in the Iraq war that Afghanistan, with coalition help, took some of its most promising steps toward a free and better future,” he said in published remarks.

After retiring in 2008, he headed the Rumsfeld Foundation to promote public service and work with charities that provide services and support for military families and wounded veterans.

“Rummy,” as he was often called, was ambitious, witty, energetic, engaging, and capable of great personal warmth, those who knew him said.

But Rumsfeld relished verbal sparring and elevated it to an art form, critics noted. And biting humor was a favorite weapon.

LOYALISTS NETWORK

Still, he built a network of loyalists who admired his work ethic, intelligence, and impatience with all who failed to share his sense of urgency.

Rumsfeld is the only person to serve twice as Pentagon chief. The first time, in 1975-77, he was the youngest ever.

The next time, in 2001-06, he was the oldest. Rumsfeld also had stints as White House chief of staff, U.S. ambassador, and member of Congress.

He made a brief run for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination.

American media said it was “a spectacular flop“. He once described it as humbling for a man used to success at the highest levels of the government.

Rumsfeld leaves behind a wife, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

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