Whether you liked him or not, 88-year-old Donald M. Rumsfeld ended his earthly journey having fought the good fight, not for Party but as a patriotic American, representing the best-and-brightest in a distinguished life of public service. Reading the vile responses from some left-wing journalists shows the ugly partisan divide that’s killing the United States of America, one nauseating partisan attack at a time. “Rumsfeld gave orders that resulted in the abuse and torture of hundreds of prisoners in U.S. custody in Afghanistan, Iraq and Gunatanamo Bay. This should be at the top of every obituary,” said Jameel Jaffer, Columbia University professor. To act so partisan, so biased, so vitriolic and so classless on a distinguished American’s death shows the vulgar nature Free Speech, giving every boor a platform. Rumsfeld earned his distinguished Eagle Scout award, then groomed early on for a top slot in the U.S. government.
After graduating New Trier High School in 1950, Rumsfeld attended Princeton University where he studied politics, attended ROTC and was captain of the wrestling team, graduating with an A.B. in politics in 1954, before serving as a Naval Aviator. After serving in the Navy from 1954 to 1957, Rumsfeld enrolled in Case Western Reserve Law School before transferring and graduating from Georgetown Law Center in 1960. Rumsfeld ran and won a seat in Congress in 1964, 1966 and 1968. Rumsfeld joined The Nixon Administration in 1969 in the Economic Development Office. Named Counselor to the President in 1970, Director of the Cost of Living Counsel in 1971, U.S. Amb. to NATO in 1973, White House Chief of Staff in 1974, and Defense Secretary in 1975. Few citizens in U.S. history were groomed in such a short period of time to serve as U.S. Defense Secretary.
Rumsfeld was tapped Jan. 20, 2001 by former President George W. Bush to do a second stint as Defense Secretary. He served for over five years during one the most tumultuous and dangerous times in U.S. history. Thrown into the whirlwind with everyone else by Sept. 11, 2001, Rumsfeld and his friend from the Nixon White House former Vice President Dick Cheney served as steady hands while the country reeled from the worst attack on U.S. soil in history. Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld found themselves in the middle of an asymmetric war of unknown proportions. Rumsfeld led the U.S. into Operation Enduring Freedom Oct. 7, 2001, where the U.S. went to war in Afghanistan, toppling the Taliban government Nov. 14, 2001, driving Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden out of Afghanistan into hiding, eventually in Pakistan. Operation Enduring Freedom was Rumsfeld’s finest moment.
Once the U.S. was blindsided by Bin Laden on Sept. 11, 2001, Bush’s presidency, led by Cheney, Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell went on a war footing. Every waking moment after Sept. 11 was spent prosecuting the war on terror that still sees 2,500 U.S. troops and 7,000 allied forces in Afghanistan. Watching the World Trade Center and Pentagon decimated on Sept. 11 was a rude awakening to the new world of global terrorism. “It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of Donald Rumsfeld, a American statesman and devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather,” said Rumsfeld’s family. “One the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Donald Rumsfeld ran to the fire at the Pentagon to assist the wounded and ensure the safety of survivors,” Bush said, remembering Rumsfeld’s dedication at a time asymmetric war.
Bush recalled Rumsfeld’s dedication to defend the United States against a new, unknown foreign enemy. “For the next five years he was in steady service as a wartime secretary of defense—a duty he carried out with strength, skill and honor,” said Bush, reacting to Rumsfeld’s death. Rumsfeld taught Bush that the enemy only respects strength, requiring a single-minded focus to defend U.S. national security. Rumsfeld knew that Sept. 11 shook public faith in the U.S. government’s ability to protect America from enemies, foreign and domestic. “A conclusion by our enemies that the United States lacks the will or the resolve to carry out our missions that demand sacrifice and demand patience is every bit as dangerous as an imbalance of conventional military power,” Rumsfeld said, arguing that the U.S. military must retool to deal with emerging asymmetric terrorist threats.
Rumsfeld had remarkable success with Operation Enduring Freedom, only regretted that he never got Osama bin Laden on his watch. As years went by, Rumsfeld lost control of the Pentagon, hijacked by former Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, they bypassed conventional intel and handpicked their own operatives inside the Pentagon known as the Office of Special Plans [OSP]. Founded by Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and led by Douglas Feith Jr. and Richard Pearl, they bypassed Rumsfeld to fabricate intel about Iraq’s Saddam Hussein’s infamous weapons of mass destruction. Bush convinced Congress with fake intel from OSP to go to war in Iraq March 20, 2003. From that point on, Rumsfeld watched his otherwise stellar career and reputation trashed in Bush’s Iraq quagmire, pulling down everything it its path.
