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Donald Rumsfeld

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Donald Rumsfeld

21st Secretary of Defense
In office
January 20, 2001 – present
Preceded byWilliam S. Cohen
13th Secretary of Defense
In office
November 20, 1975 – January 20, 1977
Preceded byJames R. Schlesinger
Succeeded byHarold Brown
Born July 9, 1932
Evanston, Illinois
Political partyRepublican

Donald Henry Rumsfeld (born July 9 1932) is currently serving as the 21st United States Secretary of Defense, since January 20 2001, under President George W. Bush. He is the oldest person to have held that position, and was also the youngest when he served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. If Rumsfeld serves as Secretary of Defense until November of 2007 he will become the longest served Secretary of Defense/War in US history. Rumsfeld also served in various positions under President Richard Nixon, as well as four terms in the United States House of Representatives, and as U.S. ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (1973-1974).

He served in the U.S. Navy from 1954 to 1957 as an aviator and flight instructor, training in North American SNJ basic trainers and later flying Grumman F9F Panther fighters. In 1957, he transferred to the Ready Reserve and continued his Naval service in flying and administrative assignments as a drilling reservist until 1975. He transferred to the Standby Reserve when he became Secretary of Defense in 1975 and to the Retired Reserve with the rank of Navy Captain in 1989.

He has also served as an official in numerous federal commissions and councils. For example, as Defense Secretary, he organized a committee to conduct a deep historical analysis of ancient empires to try and understand how they sustained power and influence.[1]

Rumsfeld married the former Joyce Pierson in 1954. They have three children and six grandchildren.

Early life

Background

He was born in Evanston, Illinois to George Donald Rumsfeld and Jeannette Huster. His great great grandfather Heinrich Rumsfeld emigrated from Weyhe near Bremen in Northern Germany in the 19th century [2] . He grew up in Winnetka, Illinois.

Rumsfeld is an Eagle Scout and recipient of both the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and Silver Buffalo Award from the Boy Scouts of America.

Education

Donald Rumsfeld went to Baker Demonstration School for middle school and graduated from New Trier High School. He attended Princeton University on academic and NROTC scholarships (A.B., 1954) where he was an accomplished amateur wrestler. While at Princeton, he was roommates with fellow future Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci.

His Princeton University senior thesis was titled: "The Steel Seizure Case of 1952 and Its Effects on Presidential Powers".[3]

In 1956, after a stint in the U.S. Navy, he attended and subsequently dropped out of Georgetown University Law Center (1957).

Military service

Rumsfeld served in the United States Navy from 1954 to 1957 as a Naval aviator and flight instructor. In 1957, he transferred to the Ready Reserve and continued his Naval service in flying and administrative assignments as a drilling reservist until 1975. He transferred to the Standby Reserve when he became Secretary of Defense in 1975 and to the Retired Reserve with the rank of Navy Captain in 1989.

Early political career

In 1957, during the Eisenhower Administration, he served as Administrative Assistant to David S. Dennison Jr., a Congressman representing the 11th district of Ohio. Dennison served one term, losing in the Democratic landslide of 1958. Rumsfeld then moved on to become a staff assistant to Congressman Robert P. Griffin of Michigan.

After a two year stint with investment banking firm A. G. Becker from 1960 to 1962, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives for the 13th Congressional District in Illinois in 1962, at the age of 30, and was re-elected by large majorities in 1964, 1966, and 1968.

In the Congress, he served on the Joint Economic Committee, the Committee on Science and Aeronautics, and the Government Operations Committee, as well as the Subcommittees on Military and Foreign Operations. He was also a co-founder of the Japanese-American Inter-Parliamentary Council.

Rumsfeld made a brief flirtation with the Presidency in 1988 but never formally announced his candidacy.

Career

Nixon Administration

Rumsfeld resigned from Congress in 1969 — his fourth term — to serve in the Nixon Administration as Director of the United States Office of Economic Opportunity, Assistant to the President, and a member of the President's Cabinet (1969-1970); named Counselor to the President in December of 1970, Director of the Economic Stabilization Program; and member of the President's Cabinet (1971-1972).

In 1971 President Nixon was recorded saying about Rumsfeld "At least Rummy is tough enough" and "He's a ruthless little bastard. You can be sure of that."[4]

In February of 1973, Rumsfeld left Washington to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels, Belgium. He served as the United States' Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council and the Defense Planning Committee, and the Nuclear Planning Group. In this responsibility, he represented the United States on wide ranging military and diplomatic matters.

Ford Administration

Secretary Rumsfeld, seated at the Cabinet table, laughing with President Gerald Ford in 1975.

In August 1974, he was called back to Washington to serve as transition chairman for the new president, Gerald R. Ford. He had been a Ford confidant since their days in the U.S. House, when Ford was House minority leader. Later in Ford's presidency, Rumsfeld became White House Chief of Staff (1974-1975); and the 13th U.S. Secretary of Defense (1975-1977).

During this period he oversaw the transition to an all-volunteer military, and although he supported the Ford administration's efforts at detente, Rumsfeld sought to reverse the gradual decline in the Defense budget and to build up U.S. strategic and conventional forces. He noted that trends in comparative U.S.-Soviet military strength had not favored the United States for 15 to 20 years, and that if continued they "would have the effect of injecting a fundamental instability in the world."[5]

Donald Rumsfeld

As part of the Ford administration, Rumsfeld helped formulate the White House response to the death of CIA scientist Frank Olson.

In 1975, a military recruit in New Jersey died and 500 others were infected with a flu that the Centers for Disease Control diagnosed as "swine flu". A memo from the Health, Education and Welfare secretary to the head of the Office of Management and Budget noted that "the projections are that this virus will kill one million Americans in 1976." At Rumsfeld's urging, the Ford administration quickly produced and distributed large number of doses of the vaccine. However, some batches were contaminated and 52 people died while 628 fell ill. The program was stopped and no one outside of the original outbreak contracted swine flu.[6]

In 1977, Rumsfeld was awarded the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.[7]

Private career

In early 1977 Rumsfeld briefly lectured at the Woodrow Wilson School and Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, in Evanston, Illinois, USA.

From 1977 to 1985 Rumsfeld served as Chief Executive Officer, President, and then Chairman of G.D. Searle & Company, a worldwide pharmaceutical company based in Skokie, Illinois whose products included, among others, the oral contraceptive pill Enovid. During his tenure at Searle, Rumsfeld led the company's financial turnaround that in-turn earned him awards as the Outstanding Chief Executive Officer in the Pharmaceutical Industry from the Wall Street Transcript (1980) and Financial World (1981). Rumsfeld is believed to have earned around $12 million from Searle's sale to Monsanto.

It was under Rumsfeld that Searle got the Food and Drug Administration's approval for the controversial artificial sweetener, aspartame, which it marketed as NutraSweet. Some believe that aspartame's approval was influenced by conflict of interest and that persons involved in the aspartame approval process were rewarded with high paying jobs or consulting positions.

From 1985 to 1990 he was in private business. During his business career, Rumsfeld continued public service in various posts, including:

Rumsfeld and New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani speak at the site of the World Trade Center disaster in lower Manhattan, on November 14, 2001.
  • Member of the President's General Advisory Committee on Arms Control — Reagan Administration (1982 - 1986);
  • President Reagan's Special Envoy on the Law of the Sea Treaty (1982 - 1983);
  • Senior Advisor to President Reagan's Panel on Strategic Systems (1983 - 1984);
  • Member of the U.S. Joint Advisory Commission on U.S./Japan Relations — Reagan Administration (1983 - 1984);
  • President Reagan's Special Envoy to the Middle East (1983 - 1984);
  • Member of the National Commission on the Public Service (1987 - 1990);
  • Member of the National Economic Commission (1988 - 1989);
  • Member of the Board of Visitors of the National Defense University (1988 - 1992);
  • Member of the Commission on U.S./Japan Relations (1989 - 1991);
  • Member of the Board of Directors for ABB Ltd. (1990 - 2001);
  • FCC's High Definition Television Advisory Committee (1992 - 1993);
  • Chairman, Commission on the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States (1998 - 1999);
  • Member of the U.S. Trade Deficit Review Commission (1999 - 2000);
  • Member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR);
  • Chairman of the U.S. Commission to Assess National Security Space Management and Organization (2000);
  • Honorary Vice-Chancellor of Yale University (2001), honoring Mr. Rumsfeld's U.S. foreign policy work.
File:Donald saddam.jpg
Rumsfeld, at the time Ronald Reagan's special envoy to the Middle East, meeting with Saddam Hussein during a visit to Baghdad, Iraq in December, 1983. This image would be strongly downplayed by Rumsfeld and up-played by his opponents in later years as relations with Hussein's regime deteriorated. Video frame capture, see the complete video here.

Rumsfeld served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Instrument Corporation from 1990 to 1993. A leader in broadband transmission, distribution, and access control technologies for cable, satellite and terrestrial broadcasting applications, the company pioneered the development of the first all-digital high-definition television (HDTV) technology. After taking the company public and returning it to profitability, Rumsfeld returned to private business in late 1993. From January 1997 until being sworn in as the 21st Secretary of Defense in January 2001, Rumsfeld served as Chairman of Gilead Sciences, Inc. He was also Chairman of the RAND Corporation.

Rumsfeld sat on ABB's board from 1990 to 2001, earning $190,000 a year. ABB is a European engineering giant based in Zürich, Switzerland. In 2000 this company sold two light water nuclear reactors to North Korea, as part of President Bill Clinton's policy of persuading the North Korean regime to positively engage with the West.

The sale of the nuclear technology was a high-profile contract. ABB's then chief executive, Goran Lindahl, visited North Korea in November 1999 to announce ABB's "wide-ranging, long-term cooperation agreement" with the communist government. Mr. Rumsfeld's office said that the Secretary of Defense did not "recall it being brought before the board at any time". But ABB spokesman Bjorn Edlund told Fortune that "board members were informed about this project."

Rumsfeld has also served in executive responsibilities of various local charities across the United States. From 1986 to 1989 he was appointed to serve as United Way Inter-governmental Affairs Director in Washington, D.C..

As a result of his foreign policy achievements as Inter-governmental Affairs Director, he was asked to serve the U.S. State Department. Given the title "foreign policy consultant", he held the role from 1990 to 1993.

Reagan Administration and following years

During his period as Reagan's Special Envoy to the Middle East (November 1983 - May 1984), Rumsfeld was the main conduit for crucial American military intelligence, hardware and strategic advice to Saddam Hussein, then fighting Iran in the Iran-Iraq war. This policy was adopted when the war began to go strongly in Iran's favor, and it looked as if Iran would overrun Iraq completely. Although the United States was hesitant to support a Soviet client state, the prospect of a greatly expanded Iran outweighed these concerns. When he visited on 19 - 20 December 1983, he and Saddam Hussein had a 90-minute discussion that covered Syria's occupation of Lebanon, preventing Syrian and Iranian expansion, preventing arms sales to Iran by foreign countries, increasing Iraqi oil production via a possible new oil pipeline across Jordan. According to declassified U.S. State Department documents Rumsfeld also informed Tariq Aziz (Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister) that: "Our efforts to assist were inhibited by certain things that made it difficult for us ... citing the use of chemical weapons."[8]

During his brief bid for the 1988 Republican nomination, Rumsfeld stated that restoring full relations with Iraq was one of his best achievements. This was not a particularly controversial position at the time, when most American politicians considered ties with Iraq an effective bulwark against Iran.

Rumsfeld's civic activities included service as a member of the National Academy of Public Administration and a member of the boards of trustees of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation, the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and the National Park Foundation. He was also a member of the U.S./Russia Business Forum and Chairman of the Congressional Leadership's National Security Advisory Group.

File:RicePowellBushRumsfeld.jpg
Rumsfeld, then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, and then-Secretary of State Colin Powell listen to President George W. Bush speak.

Rumsfeld was a founder and active member of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a non-profit, educational organization whose goal is to promote American global leadership including the "need to promote the cause of political and economic freedom abroad."[9] He co-signed a 29 January 1998 PNAC letter sent to President Bill Clinton:

...turn your Administration's attention to implementing a strategy for removing Saddam's regime from power. This will require a full complement of diplomatic, political and military efforts. Although we are fully aware of the dangers and difficulties in implementing this policy, we believe the dangers of failing to do so are far greater. We believe the U.S. has the authority under existing UN resolutions to take the necessary steps, including military steps, to protect our vital interests in the Gulf. In any case, American policy cannot continue to be crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the UN Security Council. We urge you to act decisively. If you act now to end the threat of weapons of mass destruction against the U.S. or its allies, you will be acting in the most fundamental national security interests of the country. If we accept a course of weakness and drift, we put our interests and our future at risk.[10]

George W. Bush Administration

Rumsfeld was named defense secretary soon after President George W. Bush took office in 2001. Bush's selection of Rumsfeld surprised some media commentators, because he had not been seen as particularly close to Bush's father.

Rumsfeld immediately announced a series of sweeping reviews intended to plot the transformation of the U.S. military into a lighter, more nimble force. These studies, led by Pentagon analyst Andrew Marshall, drew widespread resistance from the military services and members of Congress, who worried that Rumsfeld would cancel pet projects. (Eventually, he succeeded in killing the Army's Crusader howitzer and its Comanche armed scout helicopter.) Media reports in the summer of 2001 ran under headlines like "Will Rumsfeld Be The First Of Bush's Cabinet To Go?"[citation needed]

Donald Rumsfeld with Dick Cheney

Following the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, Rumsfeld led the military planning and execution of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Rumsfeld pushed hard to send as small a force as possible to both conflicts, a concept codified as the Rumsfeld Doctrine.

Rumsfeld's plan resulted in a lightning invasion that took Baghdad in well under a month with very few American casualties. Many government buildings, plus major museums, electrical generation infrastructure, and even oil equipment were looted and vandalized during the transition from the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime to the establishment of the Coalition Provisional Authority. Critics further complained that there was no plan to deal with the existing Iraqi armed forces. They were disbanded, leaving hundreds of thousands of armed and unemployed men in the country. A violent insurrection began shortly after the occupation started.

After the German and French governments voiced opposition to invading Iraq, Rumsfeld labeled these countries as part of "Old Europe", implying that countries which supported the war were part of a newer, modern Europe.

Donald Rumsfeld and Eritrean President Isaias Afewerki shake hands in Eritrea

He gives more press conferences than his predecessors. The BBC Radio 4 current affairs program Broadcasting House had been so taken by Rumsfeld's various remarks that it once held a regular slot called "The Donald Rumsfeld Soundbite of the Week" in which they played his most amusing comment from that week. Rumsfeld himself is said to have found the slot "hilarious." Rumsfeld's penchant for talking with his hands also made him the butt of jokes, including a series portraying him as a martial arts master.

Bush retained Rumsfeld after his 2004 presidential re-election, which raised eyebrows among Democrats and some Republicans. December 2004, Rumsfeld came under fire after a "town-hall" meeting with U.S. troops where he responded to a soldier's comments about inferior military equipment by saying "you go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you want."

Since Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta's resignation, July 2006 — Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and Rumsfeld are the only remaining Secretaries that have served under Bush for his tenure as President.

Controversies

September 11, 2001

Rumsfeld's activities during the September 11, 2001 attacks were outlined in a Pentagon press briefing on 15 September 2001. Exactly within 180 minutes of the start of the first hijacking and 120 minutes of American Airlines Flight 11 striking the World Trade Center, Rumsfeld raised the defense condition signaling of the United States offensive readiness to DEFCON 3; the highest it had been since the Arab-Israeli war in 1973.[3]

Some critics feel that his actions were ill-advised or incompetent, and that his alleged slowness in reaction was unacceptable in response to what some have called the "Pearl Harbor of the 21st century". Specific actions which have been criticized include his remaining in his office when the crisis management process was ramping up, his resolve in keeping his morning schedule which included a breakfast with the then Defence Policy Committee Chairman, U.S. Representative Chris Cox, and his failure to oversee the launching of interceptor jets from Andrews Air Force base, which some believe may have changed the day's outcome.

Although in regards to Air Force interceptors, The 9/11 Commission Report states: "That morning NEADS (NORAD's Northeast Air Defence Sector) could call on two alert sites, each with one pair of ready fighters: Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia. Other facilities, not on "alert", would need time to arm the fighters and organize crews."[4]

Iraq invasion

One of the most significant controversies involves Rumsfeld's role in the preemptive action of invading Iraq. A Freedom of Information Act release revealed that on September 11, 2001, Rumsfeld instructed the military to, in the notes of one of Rumsfeld's aides, "Judge whether good enough hit S.H." (Saddam Hussein)

After the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in April 2003, Rumsfeld attempted to explain the looting that followed as an exercise of freedom: "It's untidy. Freedom’s untidy and free people are free to commit crimes and make mistakes and do bad things."[5] This explanation drew many criticisms.

Ray McGovern confronted Rumsfeld, and event that was televized nation-wide [11], and even commented on The Daily Show [12]

Prisoner abuse

As Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld has come under fire from critics who argue that his decision to detain alleged-enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay is a violation of the Geneva Convention and runs counter to American legal traditions.

Some critics have also argued that Rumsfeld should be held responsible for alleged war crimes committed by the U.S. military in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Several publications, including The Economist called for his resignation following the Abu Ghraib scandal. Rumsfeld claims to have offered his resignation to the president twice during the scandal.[6]. The Economist's April 20, 2006 Lexington Editorial, titled "Time for him to go: George Bush is a fool for keeping Donald Rumsfeld in his job," includes a scathing analysis of his mismanagement of the war in Iraq.

Military decisions

Some Republicans have called for Rumsfeld's replacement after Bush's re-election due to what many perceive as inadequate troop strength (Rumsfeld Doctrine) used during the invasion of Iraq.

Rumsfeld stirred controversy by quarreling for months with the CIA over who had the authority to fire Hellfire missiles from Predator drones, although according to The 9/11 Commission Report, the armed Predator was not physically ready for deployment until the Spring of 2002. [7] (pp. 189-90, 211-214)

Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon note:

These quarrels kept the Predator from being used against al Qaeda.... The delay infuriated the terrorist hunters at the CIA. One individual who was at the center of the action called this episode "typical" and complained that "Rumsfeld never missed an opportunity to fail to cooperate. The fact is, the Secretary of Defense is an obstacle. He has helped the terrorists. Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, The Next Attack (New York: Times Books, 2005) ISBN 0805079416 p. 161.

Condolence letters

In December of 2004, Rumsfeld was heavily criticized for using a signing machine instead of personally signing over 1000 letters of condolence to the families of soldiers killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan. He promised to personally sign all letters in the future. [13] [14]

Tamiflu

From January 1997 until being sworn in as the 21st Secretary of Defense in January 2001, Donald Rumsfeld was Chairman [8] of the Board of Gilead Sciences which is the developer of Tamiflu (Oseltamivir) which is used in the treatment of bird flu. Several news sources including USA Today [9], and CNN [10] have published stories implying that Donald Rumsfeld profits from sales of Tamiflu to the U.S. Government while he is in office, although they note that he has recused himself from any decisions involving Gilead and also had the Pentagon's General Counsel issue additional instructions outlining what he could and could not be involved in if there were an avian flu pandemic and the Pentagon had to respond.

Calls for resignation

The May 2004 Economist calling for Rumsfeld's resignation.

Democrats

Several prominent Democrats have called for Rumsfeld's resignation including U.S. Senators Evan Bayh, Joe Biden, Russ Feingold, and John Kerry, former U.S. Senator John Edwards, retired Gen. Wesley Clark, former Vice President Al Gore, former Virginia Governor Mark Warner. and also Rep. Harold Ford, Jr..

Notably, in August of 2006, Senator (and possible Presidential Candidate) Hillary Clinton called for Rumsfeld's resignation. In the past, Clinton has been criticized for voting to give the President authority to attack Iraq, and opposed a time table for withdraw.

Republicans

U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has expressed he has no confidence in Rumsfeld as Secretery of Defense but refused to call for his resignation, explaining that President Bush "can have the team that he wants around him."

Retired Generals

Eight retired Generals called for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to resign in early 2006 [11].

Major General Paul D. Eaton, United States Army, commanded training of Iraqi security forces until 2004: "First, his failure to build coalitions with our allies, what he dismissively called 'old Europe' has imposed far greater demands and risks on our soldiers in Iraq than many. Second, he alienated his allies in our own military, ignoring the advice of seasoned officers and denying subordinates any chance for input." On why Mr. Rumsfeld should resign; written in a New York Times OpEd article published March 19, 2006.

General Anthony C. Zinni, United States Marine Corps, head of United States Central Command until 2000: "We are paying the price for the lack of credible planning, or the lack of a plan. … Ten years worth of planning were thrown away; troop levels dismissed out of hand. … These were not tactical mistakes. These were strategic mistakes, mistakes of policy made back here. Don't blame the troops," On mistakes made by the war planners; on Meet the Press on April 2, 2006.

Lieutenant General Gregory Newbold, United States Marine Corps, director of operations, Joint Chiefs of Staff, 2000 to 2002: "My sincere view is that the commitment of our forces to this fight was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions—or bury the results. The troops in the Middle East have performed their duty. Now we need people in Washington who can construct a unified strategy worthy of them." Written in a Time magazine article published April 9, 2006.

Major General John Batiste, United States Army, commander, First Infantry Division in Iraq until 2005: "I think he should step aside and let someone step in who can be more realistic. I think we need a fresh start. We need leadership up there that respects the military as they expect the military to respect them. And that leadership needs to understand teamwork." On why Mr. Rumsfeld should resign; quoted in The Washington Post on April 12, 2006.

Major General John M. Riggs, United States Army, director, Objective Force Task Force until 2004: "They only need the military advice when it satisfies their agenda. I think that's a mistake, and that's why I think he should resign," On Mr. Rumsfeld and other civilian war planners, National Public Radio, April 13, 2006.

Major General Charles H. Swannack Jr., United States Army, commander, 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq until 2004: "I agree it was right to go ahead and try to establish a stable government in Iraq. We need to continue to fight the global war on terror and keep it off our shores. But I do not believe Secretary Rumsfeld is the right person to fight that war based on his absolute failures in managing war against Saddam in Iraq." Quoted in the New York Times, April 14, 2006.

Former NATO Commander and 2004 Democratic presidential candidate General Wesley Clark: "I believe Secretary Rumsfeld hasn’t done an adequate job. He should go."[12]

Lieutenant General Paul van Riper, United States Marine Corps, Director of the Command and Staff College, Quantico VA by 2003: "I admire those who have stepped forward, and I agree with the arguments they are making. I count myself in the same camp." Quoted in a Washington Post article on April 15, 2006, which also reported, "Van Riper, a lifelong Republican who voted for Bush in 2000 but did not vote in the 2004 election, said Rumsfeld has failed in a number of ways, including 'disastrous' war planning and execution and fostering a poor command climate." [13]

Rumsfeld rebuffed these criticisms, stating that "out of thousands and thousands of admirals and generals, if every time two or three people disagreed we changed the secretary of defense of the United States, it would be like a merry-go-round." [14] There are an estimated 3,100 to 6,300 retired military generals. [15] [16] [17] Conservative commentator Patrick J. Buchanan reports that "Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, who travels often to Iraq and supports the war, says that the generals mirror the views of 75 percent of the officers in the field, and probably more." [18] President Bush responded to the criticism by stating that Rumsfeld is "exactly what is needed". [19], and also defended him in his controversial decider remark.

Lawsuits

Lawsuit over database

Several New York teenagers brought a lawsuit against Rumsfeld in federal court over a Pentagon database of potential military recruits. The Pentagon has defended the database as critical to national security, but the plaintiffs argue that the database retains information on people as young as 16 in violation of federal privacy laws. New York Civil Liberties Union director Donna Lieberman said, "On the one hand Congress has afforded broad latitude to collect information but on the other hand the Department of Defense has completely flouted those limits."[20]

Lawsuit over detention in Iraq

American filmmaker Cyrus Kar from Los Angeles was detained for two months in Iraq without being charged in May 2005 after he visited Iraq to make a documentary film about Cyrus the Great, the Persian king. On 7 July 2006, he sued Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and other military officials, calling the government's detention policies unconstitutional. He also claimed that he was hooded, threatened, taunted and insulted by U.S. soldiers. He was released 10 July 2005 after his family sued the federal government for violating his civil rights and holding him even after the FBI cleared him of suspicion. The lawsuit said his detention violated his civil rights, Geneva Conventions, as well as International law. "Human rights monitors note that the vast majority of the over 15,000 detainees in U.S. military custody in Iraq have never been charged, tried, provided counsel, or allowed to challenge their detention in court, and over one-fifth of them have been detained for over a year in this manner," the suit states. "Saddam Hussein has had more due process than Cyrus Kar — this is a detention policy that was drafted by Kafka" said Mark Rosenbaum of American Civil Liberties Union.[15][16][17]

Lawsuit over overseas torture

On March 1, 2005, American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights First filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Illinois on behalf of eight men who they say were subjected to torture and abuse by U.S. forces under the command of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"Secretary Rumsfeld bears direct and ultimate responsibility for this descent into horror by personally authorizing unlawful interrogation techniques and by abdicating his legal duty to stop torture," says Lucas Guttentag, lead counsel in the lawsuit and director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project. "He gives lip service to being responsible but has not been held accountable for his actions. This lawsuit puts the blame where it belongs, on the secretary of Defense."

The suit charges Rumsfeld with violations of the U.S. Constitution and international law prohibiting torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment. The lawsuit also seeks compensatory damages on behalf of the eight individuals allegedly tortured and abused by U.S. military forces. [21]

Awards

  • The Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ford (1977)
  • Donald Rumsfeld was awarded the Royal Order of the Intare by King Kigeli V of Rwanda. [22]
  • George C. Marshall Medal by the U.S. Army Association (1984)
  • Woodrow Wilson Medal by Princeton University (1985)
  • Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal (1993)
  • Lone Sailor Award by the U.S. Navy Memorial Foundation (2002)
  • Statesmanship Award by the U.S. Assoc of Former Members of Congress (2003)
  • James H. Doolittle Award by the Hudson Institute (2003)
  • Ronald Reagan Freedom Award by the Reagan Library (2003)
  • Gerald R. Ford Medal presented by President Ford and the Ford Foundation (2004)[23]

Affiliation history

Rumsfeld and Israeli politician Shimon Peres

Institutional affiliations

Government posts, panels, and commissions

Corporate connections and business interests

Education

Intellectual heritage

References

  1. ^ How Books Have Shaped U.S. Policy, The New York Times, April 5, 2003, Michiko Kakutani
  2. ^ Rumsfeld family tie is first victim of war, Daily Telegraph, February 9, 2003
  3. ^ Princeton University Senior Theses Full Record: Donald Henry Rumsfeld
  4. ^ Times Online article
  5. ^ DefenseLink's Rumsfeld Biography
  6. ^ Washington Post newspaper article, 26 May 2002
  7. ^ DefenseLink's Secretary of Defense Biography
  8. ^ George Washington University, National Archives, Iraq, PDF format
  9. ^ Project for the New American Century, Statement of Principles
  10. ^ Project for the New American Century letter to U.S. President Clinton, 29 January 1998
  11. ^ [1] [2]
  12. ^ TDS on Rummy and McGovern
  13. ^ After Outcry, Rumsfeld Says He Will Sign Condolence Letters, Washington Post, December 18 2004
  14. ^ Rumsfeld sympathy signed by machine, Daily Telegraph, December 20 2004
  15. ^ Filmmaker Sues Rumsfeld Over Iraq Detention, LA Times
  16. ^ American filmmaker sues Rumsfeld over detention in Iraq, Assoc. Press
  17. ^ The strange case of Cyrus Kar, BBC News

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Donald Rumsfeld.
Wikisource has original works by or about:
Donald Rumsfeld
Wikiquote has quotations related to Donald Rumsfeld.

Works

Biographies

  • White House Biography
  • Rumsfeld's War: The Untold Story of America's Anti-Terrorist Commander by Rowan Scarborough (Regnery Publishing, 2004) ISBN 0895260697
  • Rumsfeld: A Personal Portrait by Midge Decter (Regan Books, 2003) ISBN 0060560916
  • The Rumsfeld Way: The Leadership Wisdom of a Battle-Hardened Maverick by Jeffrey A. Krames (McGraw-Hill, 2002) ISBN 0071406417

Documentaries and reports

Articles

Template:Incumbent succession box
Preceded by U.S. Representative of Illinois's 13th Congressional District
1963–1969 		Succeeded by
Preceded by White House Chief of Staff
1974–1975 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Secretary of Defense
1975–1977 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Presidential Line of Succession Succeeded by
Preceded by United States order of precedence
as of 2006 		Succeeded by
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