Donald Rumsfeld was George W. Bush's powerful defense Secretary, and he died Wednesday at the age of 88.His legacy will be forever tied to the Iraq War, torture and other war crimes.Rumsfeld was instrumental in spreading the false belief that Iraq had WMDs as the basis for the 2003 invasion.Check out more stories from Insider's business page.The US attacked Iranian proxy fighters at the border of Iraq and Syria in the days before Donald Rumsfeld died. This was in response to the drone attacks against American forces in the area, according to the Pentagon.Rumsfeld's legacy is intrinsically linked to the fighting between Iran-backed militias and the US. Iran used the power vacuum created by the 2003 US invasion and subsequent removal of its dictator to support Shiite Islamist militias. It also used it as an opportunity for Iran to use that power vacuum to help them gain political power in Iraq, counter American troops and agenda.Rumsfeld, who was President George W. Bush's Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 and was a major architect of the 2003 Iraq War as well as a supporter of torture methods that have damaged America's international standing. Rumsfeld played a key role in the fabrication of the false belief that Saddam Hussein was actively creating weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), which posed a direct threat for the US. Rumsfeld later referred to Rumsfeld's baseless claims about WMDs in Iraq "misstatements."Rumsfeld made one of the most famous statements about the war. He said that looting occurred soon after the invasion and simply stated: "Stuff happens."Rumsfeld's political career was destroyed by the war. The conflict also had a devastating impact on American credibility, as it claimed many lives and undermined US credibility around the world.Rumsfeld's "global war against terror", which was inextricably linked to the invasion of Iraq, began during Rumsfeld's time as Pentagon chief. It has been a costly and expensive disaster. According to Brown University's Costs of War Project, the US government estimates that the cost-tag is $6.4 trillion. This includes the deaths of over 800,000. Approximately 37 million people were displaced.The 2003 invasion of Iraq also catalyzed the rise and development of the Islamic State (or ISIS), a terrorist group that has claimed responsibility in numerous devastating attacks around the world. In 2004, ISIS was founded in Iraq as "Al Qaeda in Iraq". ISIS had a vast territory in Syria and Iraq that it declared a caliphate by 2014. ISIS has lost most of its territory and seen its top leaders be killed. However, it is still considered a threat to the US and its Western allies."ISIS, al Qa'ida and Iran, along with their militant allies, continue to plot terrorist attacks on US persons and interests," the US intelligence community stated. In its April threat assessment, the US intelligence community stated that terrorist groups showed great resilience despite leadership losses and were taking advantage of ungoverned areas for rebuilding. As part of an international coalition fighting ISIS remnants, the US has approximately 2,500 troops stationed in Iraq.Rumsfeld stated in his 2011 memoir that he didn't regret the 2003 Iraq War. He said it had taken out Saddam Hussein and helped stabilize the Middle East. The history tells a different tale.Rumsfeld stated that "even though the road less traveled looks more beautiful, the cold reality of the Hussein regime at Baghdad most likely will mean a Middle East far worse than it is now." "Our failures to confront Iraq would send a message that neither America nor other countries are willing to stand in their way of terrorist support and pursuit of weapons-of-mass destruction."Rumsfeld was the Reagan administration's special Middle East representative for many years before 2003. He met with Hussein at the time and offered his assistance, even though the US knew Hussein was using chemical weapon against Iran in a conflict that had already ended in a bloody war.Rumsfeld was also known to have advocated torture or enhanced interrogation techniques.Rumsfeld wrote a handwritten note to ask why detainees would only have to stand for four hours in a memo he signed as defense secretary.The Senate's December 2008 report concluded that the Abu Ghraib torture scandal resulted from interrogation techniques approved Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials.Rumsfeld's involvement in America’s torture use was a matter of grave concern to civil liberties and human rights groups, such as the ACLU. These organizations referred to this legacy when they responded to Rumsfeld's passing."Rumsfeld may have died, but other Bush administration officials are still alive and available for criminal investigations into torture," Andrea Prasow (deputy Washington irector at Human Rights Watch) said in a tweet.Jamel Jaffer, Columbia University's executive director of Knight First Amendment Institute, tweeted that the "top" of every obituary should mention that he gave the orders that led to the torture and abuse of hundreds of prisoners held in US custody in Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, and Afghanistan.
