Due to his Iraq war strategy, will Rumsfeld go down in history as an utter and complete failure?

Question

Or will history be rewritten for him as it was for Ronald Reagan?

D C Timberstone (below) That is a fair response that I would normally agree with. HOWEVER, Rumsfeld's poor decisions has had deadly consequences. I thonk the level of the consequences outweigh his contributions.

carolina (below) LOLOL... (NOT)

Answer 1

In this day & age of electronic media (blogs, youtube, etc) I feel Rumsfeld will be accurately represented in the history books. (Unlike the reagan era - remember oliver north) Rummy won't be as fortunate. He won't be able to fall under the category of "the lies my teacher told me" because the truth is already out there....

It seems as if the history books have convienced many to FORGET about the true legacy of ol' RWR.

Answer 2

Possibly not. Sometimes even disasterous failures are celebrated by history. Mark Anthony. Napoleon. Robert E Lee. George Armstrong Custer. Robert Falcon Scott.

Answer 3

Not just the war. How about his role in the Reagan Administration, empowering Saddam Hussein with money, intelligence, and WMDs (not to mention the “photo-op”)? Or, his role in the Nixon Administration? And then there is his decades-long relationship with Cheney.

“Failure” is putting too positive a spin on his (and his Bush Administration pals) accomplishments: eroding Constitutional protection of America’s citizens; destroying America’s position of leadership and respect in the world community, and creating global regional destabilization for his own personal glory and wealth.

Answer 4

No, he will be remembered for restructuring the military if at all. Because lets face it, who was George Washington's secretary of War, or Lincoln's, or Jackson's? it is the Presidents who get talked about, not the undersecretaries. In 40 years I doubt many will know who Rumsfeld is at all.

Answer 5

Like anyone else I would think that his entire career should be evaluated not just the very end. Up until the lie to the American people I still feel that President Clinton did an outstanding job as President. I would like to see him given credit for the contributions over mistakes.

Answer 6

actually rummy was calling for a change in direction in Iraq, long before he got canned.
Wonder why the secretary of defense had to call for a change in direction, when the guys under him were suppose to be running the show?
The people who are making the decisions do not call for anything, they just send out memos. this isn't what happened in the Iraq war situation, so I do not believe 'ol rummy was making many of the decisions...just the fall guy.

Answer 7

It’s only a matter of time until Rumsfeld goes to jail (probably in his old age)

..It’s more than evident from his own mouth, Rumsfeld is worried about being held responsible (like he will be) for countless, violent civilian deaths, and institutional torture.

Answer 8

no. it wasn't his fault. it was the liberal media's fault, right? or Colin Powell's, right?

Rumsfeld (with Cheney!) was very successful in the Ford White House. and very popular in the private sector.

but, he would have been much more wealthy if bird flu really hit and took hold. remember that? wasn't that going to kill us like the Islamofascists?

Tamilflu was Rummy's meal ticket in this Administration, but that got nowhere.

so, in that he didn't walk away with ga-zillions of government fear-mongered tax dollars, he was such a disaster his middle name is Katrina.

Answer 9

Rumsfeld = failure

Reagan = The Last Real American Patriot

Answer 10

his entire career will be reduced to that ridiculous 'we know the known unknowns, but don't know the unknown unknowns.'

rummy has managed to bring doublespeak to a new level.