Donald Rumsfeld,
the architect of the US invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq and an advocate for measures to streamline and modernize the American military has died.
Mr. Rumsfeld, who was 88 years old, was the only one to serve twice as Secretary of Defense. He became the country’s youngest leader in the Pentagon in 1975 and one of the oldest when he returned to work in 2001.
His death in Taos, N.M., was announced by his family on Wednesday. The cause of death is multiple myeloma, said Keith Urbahn, spokesman for Mr. Rumsfeld.
During the two wars that took place during the
George W. Bush
Government, Mr. Rumsfeld became known for his sparring matches with congressmen and the press who were critical of the Iraq war.
In February 2002, Mr Rumsfeld stopped reporters at a Pentagon press conference amid the question of whether there was evidence that Baghdad had been linked to international terrorist activity.
« There are known acquaintances; There are things that we know we know. We also know that there are known unknowns; That means we know there are some things we don’t know, ”he told them. “But there are also unknown unknowns – those we don’t know, those we don’t know. And when you look at the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tends to be the most difficult. ”
The wars Mr. Rumsfeld helped start and oversee led to ongoing geopolitical changes on two continents that are at the center of debates over US national security goals two decades later.
Former President George W. Bush described Mr. Rumsfeld in a statement as “a man of intelligence, integrity, and almost inexhaustible Energy ».
« He has been a staunch steward of our armed forces, and the United States is safer and better off to serve, » said Bush of Mr. Rumsfeld, who served as Secretary of Defense for five years.
During his second tenure at the Pentagon, which began with the inauguration of Bush, Rumsfeld set about building the US military’s unmanned aerial vehicle fleet and its elite special forces to make the armed forces more agile and more technological savvy.
The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon resulted in the US invading Afghanistan, where Al Qaeda was operating. The October 2001 invasion demonstrated Mr. Rumsfeld’s approach to warfare and resulted in the swift overthrow of the Taliban.
However, Mr. Rumsfeld’s activities as Defense Minister soon became most closely linked to the Iraq war, which took place in 2003 after a furious national debate about his necessity.
Mr. Rumsfeld and top generals designed the war plans, which quickly fell
Saddam Husseins
Government but led to an insurrection that subsumed the US mission. More than 4,400 American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died.
The financial costs of the war are still difficult to estimate. By 2014, Congress had directly allocated $ 815 billion, according to the Congressional Research Service, but that number grew after the US returned to Iraq to counter the extremist group Islamic State. Other estimates suggest that the real cost, including treatment of wounded troops and interest costs, will run into trillions. At least 32,000 soldiers were injured in Iraq and more than 20,000 were injured while on duty in Afghanistan.
In investigations into the Iraq war effort in the years that followed, academics and the military have cited mistakes made by the Rumsfeld-led Bush team that led to the challenges for the US armed forces. The US misunderstood its opponents, brought the wrong tools into battle, failed to adapt and did not invite other military and political perspectives, said several experts.
« Rumsfeld ignored his own advice in defense planning, » wrote Michael R. Gordon and retired General Bernard Trainor in their 2006 book on the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq, citing Mr. Rumsfeld’s frequent calls to prepare for the unexpected. « If the government had taken its own advice to heart, it would have planned to conduct counterinsurgency and counter-terrorism operations as soon as Baghdad fell. » Before the war, it was agreed that Mr Hussein was a dangerous one Was dictator. But there was no evidence after the invasion that it posed an imminent threat to US forces. The chemical weapons that Bush administration officials warned about or evidence that Iraq supported al-Qaeda never existed. Instead, the results of the Iraq war are increasingly viewed as a strategic setback for the US.
The US war in Iraq strengthened Iran, which led to instability in other areas of the Middle East. Ultimately, the war also resulted in what would become the group that would become Islamic State, also known as ISIS, leading to more years of fighting in the Middle East.
While Mr Bush was making the decision to invade Iraq, Mr Rumsfeld was a supporter of regime change in Baghdad and a staunch spokesman for war and a smaller, more agile and deadly military power.
Critics later said that Mr. Rumsfeld’s strategy had used too few troops to effectively stabilize the country. In a 2015 interview for this article, Rumsfeld said the mistake in Iraq was when the Bush administration tried to build democracy there.
« I think you have to have healthy respect for what you are can and what not, and every nation has to build itself, ”he said. « You can be helpful, you can help, you can encourage, you can argue, but in the end you have to take your hand off your bike. »
Mr. Rumsfeld was appointed Secretary of Defense by Mr. Bush after the Republicans’ defeat in the 2006 mid-term elections, in which Iraq was a major issue, canceled.
His career was rooted in Midwestern politics and economics. He started out as a cantaloupe salesman in Illinois in 1942 at the age of 10 and served in Congress, as an advisor to three presidents, and as a pharmaceutical manager.
Mr. Rumsfeld married Joyce Pierson in 1954. He leaves behind his wife, their three children, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
In his professional career, Mr. Rumsfeld was Chief Executive, President and then Chairman of G.D. Searle & Co., a global pharmaceutical company.
From 1990 to 1993 he was also Chairman and CEO of General Instrument Corp., a broadband company. In addition, Mr. Rumsfeld was chairman of Gilead Sciences Inc., a pharmaceutical company, a position he held until his second tenure as Secretary of Defense.
A graduate of Princeton University, Mr. Rumsfeld began his political career as a congressional clerk. He was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1962 at the age of 30. Mr. Rumsfeld was an early supporter of the 1964 Suffrage Act, part of a Republican faction pushing for legislation.
In 1969, he resigned from Congress to join the administration of President Richard Nixon, where he served as ambassador for a while served in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
After Mr Nixon’s resignation, Mr Rumsfeld joined Mr Ford’s government as Chief of Staff of the White House and then for his first position as Secretary of Defense.
Mr Rumsfeld was provocative and outspoken often at the center of national attention. A 2003 memo described the challenge facing US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan as « long, hard drudgery. » In 2004, a National Guard asked why soldiers had to screw scrap metal on their Humvees to make “hillbilly armor.”
“You go to war with the army you have, not the army you have may have or would like to have them at a later date, « Rumsfeld replied.
Mr. Rumsfeld was known for taking and sending notes that came to be known as snowflakes among Pentagon officials. The notes available on his website show his frustration with the bureaucracy, his reflection on problems and instructions for staff to deal with questions.
A few days after Mr. Rumsfeld dealt with the Wall Street Journal too an interview for this article, he dictated such a snowflake. In it he noted that it was his first interview for his own obituary since 1963, when he was a newly elected member of Congress.
Appeared in the print edition of July 1, 2021 as « Pentagon Chief Oversaw Iraq, Afghan Wars ».
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