".No one knows what he doesn’t know, and the less a man knows, the more sure he is that he knows everything."
Joyce Cary, English Author (1888 – 1957)
Donald Rumsfeld will release his memoir “Known and Unknown” next week. The title is based on his infamous speech (video above) describing the “knowns” and “unknowns” that the U.S. military encountered during the early part of the war in Iraq.
According to an article by Bradley Graham in the Washington Post, Rumsfield is “characteristically tough and defiant in the 800-page autobiography.” He continues to believe that the Iraq war was justified, saying that the situation in the Middle East would be significantly worse today had Saddam’s regime not been neutralized.
Graham points out that:
“.. Rumsfeld still can't resist.. taking a few pops at former secretaries of state Colin L. Powell and Condoleezza Rice as well as at some lawmakers and journalists. He goes so far as to depict former president George W. Bush as presiding over a national security process that was marked by incoherent decision-making and policy drift, most damagingly on the war in Iraq.”
The article also indicates that Rumsfeld expresses contrition for the illegal detention and torture that took place under his watch:
“In a lengthy section on the administration's treatment of wartime detainees, Rumsfeld regrets not leaving office in May 2004 after the disclosure of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. At the time, Bush rejected two resignation letters, five days apart, from Rumsfeld. Another 21/2 years passed before Bush, facing the Republicans' loss of Congress, decided to let Rumsfeld go.
'Looking back, I see there are things the administration could have done differently and better with respect to wartime detention,’ Rumsfeld acknowledges.”
In regard to torture, Rumsfeld appears to regret that “it happened”, but not that he was part of the team that “made it happen.” Rumsfeld often uses the term “stuff happens” when he talks about the acts that occurred at Abu Graib and Guantanamo, as if they were uncontrollable acts of God. This appears to be the revisionist theme being established by the neocons (in regard to Bush-era torture and other crimes) as they attempt to re-frame their image.
Unfortunately, these were not isolated, uncontrollable events. The fact that key members of the Bush administration consciously orchestrated the implementation of the torture, illegal detention, and rendition programs has been well documented.
Though eight years have passed, I’m not sure that Americans are ready to accept mere contrition for “uncontrollable” events as an excuse for the war crimes that were committed during the Bush administration. We are ruled by laws - not men. Our laws require that we investigate and prosecute criminal activity, regardless of who the perpetrators may be.
Americans are instinctively forgiving people. But our adherence to the Rule of Law establishes a reasonable limit to our unconditional forgiveness.
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Comments
stop the advance of the 451s
r
He left a LOT of stories in his hometown. And I have not heard a lot of good ones.
repeating falsities in the face of objective evidence to the contrary is either insanity, hypocrisy, or perhaps merely a combination of low intellect and early childhood conditioning.
americans do not vote for laws, they vote for men. the men are supposed to be constrained by laws, but the men who are supposed to administer the laws have the option to look aside, administer selectively.
in simplest terms i can think of, while the president commands congress through party loyalty, he can lead the nation to war on a lie, and not be hung.
if you face reality, and are dissatisfied with it, you must act to change it. so americans don't face reality, high and low 'look ahead.' it saves having to think, and act, out of the routines of daily life.
It is better to hear them make a case even if it aint no damn good. I’m not going to rush especially if it is 800 pages but I’ll give it a shot when it comes to the library assuming it does. I won’t pay for it and give him a commission.