HW 31: Donald Rumsfeld

After reading the assigned reading in Baghdad Burning the person I decided to look up was Donald Rumsfeld. Many times I have been watching the news or flipping through channels and have heard Rumsfeld’s name mentioned along with the Iraqi war. Although I was confident he is our present Secretary of Defense I knew little to nothing else about him. I learned that he served in the same position during Gerald Ford’s presidency. He is both the youngest and oldest man to ever hold that position and first to be the secretary of defense for two non-consecutive terms. Rumsfeld even held positions under the infamous Nixon cabinet. He is respected but he is considered to be very controversial. His most recent and most notable actions took place following 9/11. He heightened security levels to absurd heights and brought fright throughout the country. He eventually linked the war against terrorism into Iraq backing the amount of money and troops we have spent as a country. The criticism of Rumsfeld led to his resignation in November of 2006. He is another link in Bush’s administration that is considered a failure. In the book Rumsfeld is mentioned in Riverbend’s on September 6, 2003 when he visited Iraq. Riverbend puts her thoughts very simply, “To Hell with Him”(Riverbend pg 51). She explains how he is pampered during his time in Iraq and that he’ll go back to America and tell the citizens that there is no chaos and no lack of water and electricity, which all is very false. He visits at a time when Iraqis are suffering the most.