Rumsfeld was at that moment doing the best thing he had done all his life: turning the unimaginable suffering of others into his own ends and those of his political allies.Rumsfeld wanted to strike SH [Saddam Hussein] within six hours of the first plane striking the North Tower of the World Trade Center. He wasn't particularly concerned about whether Iraq was responsible or not. He was determined to strike large numbers of targets that were related and not to the attack (emphasis added). He saw the death of thousands of Americans as an opportunity to do what the George W. Bush administration wanted.On his Oval Office tapes, President Richard Nixon can hear himself praising Rumsfeld as a cruel little bastard. Rumsfeld is a formidable Washington phenomenon, as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said. Rumsfeld was a skilled politician-bureaucrat whose ambition, ability and substance blend seamlessly.Rumsfeld was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1932. He grew up in the suburbs north of Chicago. After graduating from Princeton, Rumsfeld served several years in the Navy. He was elected to Congress from Illinois at the age of 30.Rumsfeld survived Watergate and was appointed chief of staff to President Gerald Ford's next administration. Dick Cheney was his deputy. At 43 years old, he was appointed secretary of defense. Rumsfeld's most prominent actions included his involvement in the promotion and creation of Team B, a CIA special project that challenged the agency's estimates of Soviet strength.Team B was filled with hard-right ideologues and reached wildly alarmist conclusions. The Soviet economy was expanding at an alarming rate, as well as its weapon systems. It was poised to strike at any moment. Rumsfeld later stated, "One of the most important events in my adult lives has been the shift of power from the United States towards the Soviet Union." This can be compared to Team B's intellectual integrity and the ethos of Team B. It collapsed in 1991.Rumsfeld spent the majority of his time at the top of corporate America's corporations, including several large ones, after Ford's defeat in 1976 by Jimmy Carter. Rumsfeld did however continue to be involved in U.S. foreign policies. He was most well-known for his numerous trips to Baghdad to meet Saddam Hussein, even though Iraq had used chemical weapons during its Iran-Iraq War. According to a U.S. cable, Hussein appeared to enjoy the meeting and that it would benefit the U.S. position in the region. He also warned that other countries would be encouraged to attack or occupy the weaker states. It would lead to chaos and instability. (Notably Rumsfeld's chummy visits occurred after Saddam was convicted of the crimes and executed.Rumsfeld was able to return to the Defense Department after the election of George W. Bush. Many of Team B's former personnel were back in power so it was expected that the case against war with Iraq would contain similar delirious lies. Rumsfeld himself was particularly untrue in a 2002 interview.My view is that [Iraqi weapons-of-mass destruction] can only be found if people involved in the process are willing to talk with you and show you where they are. That's what happened the last time inspectors came in. Saddam Hussein's two sons-in law defected and went to Jordan. Word spread and they informed the inspectors where they could look. They found weapons of mass destruction.Two sons-in law of Saddam actually defected to Jordan in 1995. Iraq soon turned over documents about its 1980s WMD program, but not actual weapons, shortly afterward. Hussein Kamel (an Iraqi who had run the programs for his father in law), specifically stated to the United Nations and the CIA that Iraq didn't have any WMDs. This proved to be true. Rumsfeld's story was the exact opposite of his claims: Iraq could hide paper pieces from inspectors but that was all.Rumsfeld later claimed that the U.S. was correct about WMD issues in his memoir Known and Unknown. John Nixon, a CIA analyst, was the one who interrogated Saddam when he was captured. He claimed that he was inspired by the gibberish in books such as Rumsfelds to create his own record to correct the record.Rumsfeld's record on other issues in the Bush years was similar. While approving a memo defining the acceptable methods of torture for prisoners, he asked why only four hours of standing was allowed by the military when they can hold me for between 8-10 hours per day.
