You gotta give Donald Rumsfeld this. He's doing his best to cover his behind as he walks out the door. First he dropped a "snowflake" memo, obtained by the New York Times, admitting that the war in Iraq was "not working," and exploring possible exit strategies.
Now he's conceding that the US is not engaged in a "war on terror," even though he previously claimed we were.
Here's what he told Cal Thomas yesterday: "I don't think I would have called it the war on terror. I don't mean to be critical of those who have. Certainly, I have used the phrase frequently. Why do I say that? Because the word 'war' conjures up World War II more than it does the Cold War. It creates a level of expectation of victory and an ending within 30 or 60 minutes of a soap opera. It isn't going to happen that way. Furthermore, it is not a ‘war on terror.' Terror is a weapon of choice for extremists who are trying to destabilize regimes and (through) a small group of clerics, impose their dark vision on all the people they can control. So ‘war on terror' is a problem for me."
The Nation
You gotta give Donald Rumsfeld this. He’s doing his best to cover his behind as he walks out the door. First he dropped a “snowflake” memo, obtained by the New York Times, admitting that the war in Iraq was “not working,” and exploring possible exit strategies.
Now he’s conceding that the US is not engaged in a “war on terror,” even though he previously claimed we were.
Here’s what he told Cal Thomas yesterday: “I don’t think I would have called it the war on terror. I don’t mean to be critical of those who have. Certainly, I have used the phrase frequently. Why do I say that? Because the word ‘war’ conjures up World War II more than it does the Cold War. It creates a level of expectation of victory and an ending within 30 or 60 minutes of a soap opera. It isn’t going to happen that way. Furthermore, it is not a ‘war on terror.’ Terror is a weapon of choice for extremists who are trying to destabilize regimes and (through) a small group of clerics, impose their dark vision on all the people they can control. So ‘war on terror’ is a problem for me.”
Such words would have been heretical to Rumsfeld a year ago. Now he practically sounds like a Democrat. What’s next? Is Rummy going to support Obama in ’08?
The NationTwitterFounded by abolitionists in 1865, The Nation has chronicled the breadth and depth of political and cultural life, from the debut of the telegraph to the rise of Twitter, serving as a critical, independent, and progressive voice in American journalism.