From the desk of Donald Rumsfeld...

[HoreTore]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/31/AR2007103103095.html

The washington post has apparently got a collection of his memo's... Like this one:


Under siege in April 2006, when a series of retired generals denounced him and called for his resignation in newspaper op-ed pieces, Rumsfeld produced a memo after a conference call with military analysts. "Talk about Somalia, the Philippines, etc. Make the American people realize they are surrounded in the world by violent extremists," he wrote.

Now, are anyone still claiming that the bushies are not fear-mongering...?

[Spino]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/31/AR2007103103095.html

The washington post has apparently got a collection of his memo's... Like this one:



Now, are anyone still claiming that the bushies are not fear-mongering...?

No, politicians do as politicians does. But... I might actually find the energy to get worked up over that particular tidbit had it read, "Make the American people realize believe they are surrounded in the world by violent extremists."

Rumsfeld's usage of the term realize does seem to imply that he believed his assertion to be true, that the American people do not grasp the scope and scale of the situation he references. Regardless of whether it is fear mongering or not this particular memo hardly seems like the stuff grand conspiracies are made of. Would you get so worked up over this single sentence if it were taken from a memo written by McNamara?

"Make the American people realize they are surrounded in the world by Communist aggression"

[HoreTore]

That would still be fear-mongering, yes? When were the US "surrounded by communist aggression"?

But your point is noted. I'll downgrade poor Rummy from "fearmonger" to "ignorant idiot".

[Lemur]

You skipped over the best quotes from that article: "[Rumsfeld] wrote of the need to 'keep elevating the threat,' 'link Iraq to Iran' and develop 'bumper sticker statements' to rally public support for an increasingly unpopular war."

[HoreTore]

Yeah, I knew you'd come by to help me with it, Lemur ~;)

[PanzerJaeger]

No, politicians do as politicians does. But... I might actually find the energy to get worked up over that particular tidbit had it read, "Make the American people realize believe they are surrounded in the world by violent extremists."

Rumsfeld's usage of the term realize does seem to imply that he believed his assertion to be true, that the American people do not grasp the scope and scale of the situation he references. Regardless of whether it is fear mongering or not this particular memo hardly seems like the stuff grand conspiracies are made of. Would you get so worked up over this single sentence if it were taken from a memo written by McNamara?

"Make the American people realize they are surrounded in the world by Communist aggression"

My point made for me.

The man, of course, had an agenda as all politicians do and did his best to emphasize the points he wanted to make. He believed there was a thread and did his best to persuade others of it... pretty typical political stuff. Im sure it'll make for a cheezy Robert Redford movie in a few years..

[macsen rufus]

He believed there was a thread

.... if only it was this simple, we could have asked BG to lock it :laugh4:

[Faust|]

Rumsfeld's usage of the term realize does seem to imply that he believed his assertion to be true, that the American people do not grasp the scope and scale of the situation he references.

His usage of that term implies he believes his assertion, but pretty much every other contextual clue implies that he does not...