MetaFilter posts tagged with DonaldRumsfeld

Onward Christian Soldiers

ericb — Sun, 17 May 2009 09:13:44 -0800

"In the days surrounding the invasion of Iraq, cover sheets...began adorning top-secret intelligence briefings produced by [former defense secretary] Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon. The sheets juxtaposed war images with inspirational Bible quotes and were delivered by Rumsfeld himself to the White House, where they were read by the man who, after September 11, referred to America's war on terror as a 'crusade.'" "...Rumsfeld has always answered his detractors by claiming that history will one day judge him kindly. But as he waits for that day, a new group of critics—his administration peers—are suddenly speaking out for the first time. What they’re saying? It isn’t pretty."

Say What?

forallmankind — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 13:33:14 -0800

From Radio 4's Broadcasting House: The Donald Rumsfeld Soundbites of the Decade. A collection of statements we do now know we know.

[Obligatory reference to song lyric with Sunshine in it.]

rzklkng — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 09:17:01 -0800

Same Old Dogs, Same Old Tricks. In a rare act of bipartisan cooperation, the House of Representatives passed a group of bills strengthening the FOIA (HR 1309), streamlining access to Presidential Libraries (HR 1255), and expanding safeguards for whistleblowers (still in process, HR 985), with those that were passed having a veto-proof margin. The White House sharply criticized these acts of transparency as unconstitutional, a threat on the established separation of Powers, and as a threat to national security [pdf]. All of which heralds back to an earlier time, that looks vaguely familiar...

Who do the troops support?

lazaruslong — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 14:01:51 -0800

US Military Papers open fire on Rummy. Tomorrow, the Army Times -- and all other Military Times papers, including Navy and Air Force Times -- will run an editorial calling for Donald Rumsfeld to tender his resignation or be fired, due to his gross incompetence in handling the Iraq quagmire.

How could they DO this to us? We trusted them!!

Balisong — Mon, 27 Dec 2004 16:50:34 -0800

Let's Roll !!! Does Donald Rumsfield contradicting the official US record harm America?

Signature Stamping Machine

thisisdrew — Tue, 21 Dec 2004 13:37:28 -0800

The automated signature machine would like to express it's sincerest condolences ..."Rather than personally signing letters of condolence to the families of service members killed in action, Rumsfeld has been letting office workers affix his signature with a stamping machine."

An Executive Order Along Torture's Path

y2karl — Mon, 20 Dec 2004 16:53:08 -0800

Request for guidance regarding the OGC's EC regarding detainee abuse, referring to “interrogation techniques made lawful” by the “President's Executive Order.” comes from Records Released in Response to Torture FOIA Request.
Smoking Gun ? asks the ACLU--or just another stepping stone from Torture's Path ? As Ex-Military Lawyers Object to Bush Cabinet Nominee, and in Torture begins at the top, Joe Conason suggests that a recently disclosed FBI memo indicates that "marching orders" to abandon traditional interrogation methods came from Defense Secretary Rumsfeld himself and all the while Guantánamo torture and humiliation still going on, says shackled Briton. (more inside)

The price of greatness is responsibility.

allan — Fri, 17 Dec 2004 10:12:16 -0800

"There is no excuse for superior authority not choosing the most suitable agents for particular duties, and not removing unsuitable agents from particular duties." With all the talk of empires and resignations, a reflection to history turns up a remarkable story about an already remarkable man:

A tense time in British India came to a head when General Reginald Dyer's brigade opened fire on an unarmed crowd assembled in Amritsar with machine guns, killing 379 and wounding over 1500. Command wanted to relieve him of duty, but patriotic (and imperialist) fervor at home led to a parliamentary debate which was expected to repudiate this decision and honor him. Enter War Secretary Winston Churchill who defended the Government so eloquently that the minds and hearts of the entire deliberative body were turned.

Who Would Jesus Kill?

quasistoic — Tue, 02 Nov 2004 10:14:17 -0800

Jesus Built My M16 (474.9 MB Music Video torrent) "The Future Patriots were established in 2002 by the Honorable Donald Rumsfeld as a method of training our nation's youth in the arts of propaganda, fear-mongering, race-baiting, dis-information, and electoral fraud. We aim to assure that the control of this great nation will never be handed over to the liberal homosexual atheists who threaten our way of life by their very existence. May these songs profit the Revolution! GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!"

Rumsfeld's War

stbalbach — Sat, 30 Oct 2004 15:12:40 -0800

Frontline: Rumsfeld's War, a PBS/Washington Post joint documentary that aired earlier this week is now online. It is the inside story of Rumsfeld's battle to assert civil control over the military.

Rumsfeld doubts Saddam Laden link

hoder — Mon, 04 Oct 2004 20:03:53 -0800

Rumsfeld doubts Saddam Laden link US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has cast doubt on whether there was ever a relationship between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda.

Abu Ghraib: Same Service, Under New Management

digaman — Mon, 17 May 2004 09:26:39 -0800

Rumsfeld knew. More revelations from Seymour Hersch at The New Yorker.

Drunken Temple Boxing! Lion Claw Technique!

kirkaracha — Wed, 12 May 2004 09:01:33 -0800

Drunken Temple Boxing! You may have defeated my Southern Hook Palm technique, but can you defeat the 1000 styles of Rumsfeld?

The Pentagon Papers: The First Time as Tragedy, the Second Time As Farce

jonp72 — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 11:29:44 -0800

Pentagon Flunky Misplaces 9/11 Talking Points at Starbucks A Pentagon employee left documents with talking points to help Donald Rumsfeld deal with questions about 9/11 on Sunday political chat shows. The employee is almost certainly due to get fired, because the documents even included a hand-drawn map to Donald Rumsfeld's house! (Note: documents in pdf file.)

Did I stutter?

loquacious — Tue, 16 Mar 2004 13:52:42 -0800

Rumsfeld waffles on Face the Nation when asked about the "immediate threat" argument in favor of war with Iraq. Link is Windows Media video.

This to me is a gregarious example of how semantics and linguistic framing has been used to manipulate the American public, and one clear moment of this questionable tactic breaking down.

Interesting how he tries to blame it on the media and "folklore", and then segues right into noncommittal doublespeak.

Via Joi Ito (text available), via Center for American Progress.

Finding art in the oddest places : genius

troutfishing — Fri, 12 Mar 2004 13:07:54 -0800

The poetry of Donald Rumsfeld, set to music
The Unknown

"As we know,
There are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know
There are known unknowns.
That is to say
We know there are some things
We do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns,
The ones we don't know
We don't know."
[Department of Defense news briefing Feb. 12, 2002] : Now, imagine it set to music and sung aloud by a classically trained female singer with a beautiful voice. [ Mp3 clips available at main link ] Some conservatives consider it a homage, while I find it beautiful, compelling, and disorienting.

Rumsfeld, you killed my brother. Now you must pay.

mathowie — Thu, 26 Feb 2004 10:42:42 -0800

Rumsfeld's fighting technique is unstoppable. [via airbag]

Saddam Hussein Sourcebook

homunculus — Tue, 23 Dec 2003 15:12:54 -0800

Several newly declassified documents have been added to the National Security Archive's Saddam Hussein Sourcebook, including a State Department cable to special envoy Donald Rumsfeld (PDF) for his second meeting with Saddam Hussein (months after the infamous handshake meeting,) in which Rumsfeld conveyed the Reagan administration's undiminished support for Hussein despite their public condemnation of his use of chemical weapons. (It also mentions but seems unconcerned with Hussein's support for Abu Nidhal.) Another document describes Bechtel's intention to do business with Iraq (PDF) through non-US sources in case of US sanctions. [More analysis at Juan Cole.]

Crikey

_sirmissalot_ — Sun, 02 Nov 2003 18:58:49 -0800

Has Rumsfield Lost His Mojo? Time was first to break the story, but now the world is listening. Can it be? Has Rumsfield truly, really, devastatingly lost his mojo? And is he just pretending to not know what it means?

Iraq Lacked Atom Whack

y2karl — Mon, 27 Oct 2003 15:43:26 -0800

At least four times in the fall of 2002, the president and his advisers invoked the specter of a "mushroom cloud," and some of them, including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, described Iraq's nuclear ambitions as a threat to the American homeland... Among the closely held internal judgments of the Iraq Survey Group, overseen by David Kay as special representative of CIA Director George J. Tenet, are that Iraq's nuclear weapons scientists did no significant arms-related work after 1991, that facilities with suspicious new construction proved benign, and that equipment of potential use to a nuclear program remained under seal or in civilian industrial use.

So in regards to Iraq's possession of the one weapon we can be certain causes mass destruction: the atomic bomb, as Gregg Easterbrook put it, the verdict is the unsurprising (and unsurprisingly closely held) nope, not, zero, zip, nada...

Let's fire Rumsfeld!

skallas — Thu, 18 Sep 2003 01:15:59 -0800

Let's fire Rumsfeld! Moveon wants him fired and so does Truemajority. Considering the White House has been looking for a fall guy for Iraq for some time now, can the constituents help Bush decide? I guess we can debate the effectiveness of petitions but photos like these are just impressive.

Rumsfeld made his own intelligence

Ignatius J. Reilly — Tue, 15 Jul 2003 20:32:28 -0800

Rumsfeld's personal spy ring The defense secretary couldn't count on the CIA or the State Department to provide a pretext for war in Iraq. So he created a new agency that would tell him what he wanted to hear. Today, Salon also looks into the role played by John Bolton. Is investigative journalism now just relegated to the web? [you have to look at an ad, I believe]

for Freedom

The Jesse Helms — Fri, 30 May 2003 08:00:05 -0800

Regime Change Bonanza. Donald Rumsfeld is pushing for Iran to be the next to fall.

U.S. says Iraq may have junked toxic arms

Postroad — Wed, 28 May 2003 09:29:05 -0800

U.S. says Iraq may have junked toxic arms Thus spake Rummy in a speech. We know they have them. If we can not find them it is because they got rid of them. But that still means they had them at one time, right? Question: what are those top scientists and Bath party members telling their captors wherever they are being held for questioning? Or is too important to reveal too.

This just in -- now the mainstream media knows what everyone else does!

Ignatius J. Reilly — Tue, 06 May 2003 12:11:23 -0800

Did Bush know? An article in today's New York Times (link to mirrored site with no reg. req.) pieces together data that the author claims proves that Bush and his inner circle were well-aware that they were using false "evidence" of Iraqi WMD. Sy Hersh from the New Yorker is also chiming in, as is Salon's Joe Connason and Katha Pollitt of The Nation. A pretty decent subsection of media is finally descending on this story. If Bush or Powell or Rumsfeld are proven to have been knowingly deceitful, will the American public be even half as angry as the rest of the world?