Feith: Rumsfeld Was Not An ‘Advocate For War,’ He Was Just ‘Analyzing’ Options For War
Feith: Rumsfeld Was Not An ‘Advocate For War,’ He Was Just ‘Analyzing’ Options For War
Yesterday, in an interview with Diane Rehm, Iraq war architect Doug Feith — who has been on a campaign to revise the record about the failures in Iraq — vigorously defended Donald Rumsfeld against claims he invaded Iraq without considering the facts. The administration, in fact, was not “hell bent” on war, Feith claimed.
Feith cited a pre-war memo in which Rumsfeld “laid out the strongest case possible not to go to war.” The memo included the prospect of there being no weapons of mass destruction, no link to al Qaeda, and the potential of sparking ethnic strife — proving that Rumsfeld was “analyzing” both sides of the issue:
FEITH: I don’t think that anyone who actually examines the record would come to the conclusion that this administration was hell-bent on war. … There was an extremely intense effort and a respectful effort made to look at the arguments against going to war. […]
It’s interesting that Secretary Rumsfeld is viewed as an ‘advocate’ for war. But he wasn’t advocating. He was analyzing. And he put forward the arguments against war much more strongly than Secretary Powell did, than Director Tenet did, than anybody else in the administration who now likes to put himself forward as a skeptic ever did.
Listen here:
In reality, Rumsfeld was “advocating” for the military invasion of Iraq well before 2003. In 1998, Rumsfeld wrote to President Clinton as a signatory of the neoconservative Project for a New American Century, urging “military action” against Iraq. After 9/11, Rumsfeld pushed again:
– On 9/11, an aide recorded Rumsfeld’s orders, which said, “best info fast. Judge whether good enough hit S.H. [Saddam Hussein] at same time. Not only UBL [bin Laden].”
– “Tasks. Jim Haynes [Pentagon lawyer] to talk with PW [Paul Wolfowitz] for additional support…connection with UBL,” an aide also recorded.
When it came time to vote on the Iraq war in fall 2002, Rumsfeld pressured Congress to authorize force against Iraq as soon as possible:
– “It’s important that Congress send that message before the U.N. Security Council votes,” he said. “Delaying a vote in Congress would send the wrong message, in my view.”
Feith has long shilled for Rumsfeld. Before the war, Feith worked in the Office of Special Plans, Rumsfeld’s intelligence shop that drummed up the threat of Hussein. In 2005, Feith wrote an op-ed titled “The Donald Rumsfeld I Know” in the Washington Post, proclaiming that Rumsfeld “is the opposite of an ideologue.”
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Shill? He’s a straight-out liar, and a traitor. Both of them, actually. They need to be tried and hanged.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:25 pmDang. If you were casting a sitcom and you needed someone to play a dopey wingnut, you couldn’t do better than Douglas Feith.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:26 pmThis loser is a well-known liar.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:26 pm(enough with the bad language nanny filter TP - this ain’t Church)
FEITH: I don’t think that anyone who actually examines the record would come to the conclusion that this administration was hell-bent on war. …
Then how did it start, Dougie!!?!?!?!!?!??!?!?!?????
I’m moving to DC just to get a chance to insult one of these craven pussies face to face in public.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:28 pmYeah , Dougie Howser
You also claimed the mess that is Iraq is the fault of others and has nothing to do with you ………
April 11th, 2008 at 5:29 pmQuick! Burn all the history books, Douggie wants to re-write them.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:30 pmWhat boggles my mind is that someone PAID this dork to write a book.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:30 pmno shame at all…
April 11th, 2008 at 5:33 pmFeith: Rumsfeld Was Not An ‘Advocate For War,’ He Was Just ‘Analyzing’ Options For War
Oh, I see.
Well, I guess that makes it alllllllll OK then.
Advocating = bad
Analyzing = good
Sure, Dougie. Whatever you say.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:33 pmdougie is a pathological liar. It’s laughable to think that rummy was playing “Angel’s Advocate” against the run-up to war in Iraq.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:35 pmlet us not forget that Feith is the guy whom Gen. Tommy Franks–himself not known as the brightest bulb in the chandelier–called the “dumbest mutherfocker on the planet
April 11th, 2008 at 5:36 pmJust ‘Analyzing’ Options For War???
April 11th, 2008 at 5:37 pmWhat, are we changing history? Rumsfeld was on the news #@$%^ all over himself boasting on Shock and Awe… an event of 4,000 bombs dropped on an innocent war torn 3rd world country in a 48 hour period with half the population under 16 years of age AND aired on MSM for our entertainment. We are to believe this is analyzing options for war?
In Woodward’s Plan of Attack, Tommy Franks said about Feith: “I have to deal with the stupidest f_cking guy on the planet almost every day.”
I don’t care who ya are, that’s funny. ;)
April 11th, 2008 at 5:39 pmDuggie, no matter how you try to spin your way out of yours and Rummy’s role in leading us down this bloody path, the only spin that matters is when you’re dangling from a rope at Den Hague.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:39 pmOops, sorry tokin librul, I didn’t see your post.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:39 pmOf course the Rumsfeld “Caliphates” comment is a classic. I bet Rumsfeld dreams of killing Muslims hi severy waking moment.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:40 pmThis guy Feith needs to be arrested for blatant propaganda with intent to make our country too stupid to survive and thrive.
These PNAC war mongers are war criminals. I am awaiting for the next congress and administration to begin war crime trials… and every other country these bastards try to flee to.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:43 pmZooey Says at 5:39 pm:
Oops, sorry tokin librul, I didn’t see your post.
Heh…Great minds, and only three minutes apart. More than a coincidence? Must BE a Cone-spear-issy!!!
April 11th, 2008 at 5:46 pmBy the time this herd of clowns gets done revising history they will claim they were just pacifists down at the Crawford Commune when Big Bad Saddam attacked them and forced the Iraq fiasco down our throats.
Except Cheney. He will still be insisting that Saddam planned and financed 9/11.
I guess they figured the public/press/congress was stupid enough to buy the lies before and will do so again.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:47 pmThe BS Historical Rewrite Brigade is in force and active even before BushCo slithers out of office. Will be fun to see how much of this gets on the MSM, especially for the big shows this weekend. Tim should have fun with it, for sure. And of course Faux NoNooz………..
April 11th, 2008 at 5:48 pmtokin librul Says:
April 11th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Zooey Says at 5:39 pm:
Oops, sorry tokin librul, I didn’t see your post.
Heh…Great minds, and only three minutes apart. More than a coincidence? Must BE a Cone-spear-issy!!!
I better adjust my tinfoil hat — you’re beaming thoughts into my mind!
April 11th, 2008 at 5:49 pmZooey! How goes it? Still in school?
April 11th, 2008 at 5:52 pmThis is a typical tactic of an arrogant, tyrannical, fascist government and political movement. They understand that a nod must be given to democracy, freedom and rational government in order to deny the charges that neither the will of the people or rational, fact based decision making counts. Thus, as we saw with Johnson in EPA, a pretense is made of consulting and listening to others. However, in each case, we see that the will of the people (leaving Iraq) or the fact based and nonpartisan position of long term experts in a given policy area will always end in the adoption of a policy position opposed with near unanimity.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:55 pmRummy: I was for the war before I was for the war even more.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:56 pmFeith, what a sad commentary, trying to re-write history. He now knows how the Iraqi people feel, I hope all the “war planers” suffer, wandering this Earth, homeless.
April 11th, 2008 at 5:58 pmI wish Feith was one of Rumsfeld’s unknown unknowns, living in the north and south and east and west somewhere around Tikrit.
April 11th, 2008 at 6:05 pm.
Before we know it, these NeoCons will be insisting that America never was in Iraq.
.
April 11th, 2008 at 6:06 pmSweep it all up. Go massive.
April 11th, 2008 at 6:10 pmI smell the whiff of desperation in the air. These people are all spinning so fast it’s hard to keep up with them.
Unfortunately for them the US public knows what happened and their spin is not about to change our minds.
April 11th, 2008 at 6:12 pmupside100 Says:
April 11th, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Zooey! How goes it? Still in school?
Hey, how’s it going? Been a while! I’m still in school, taking a break from studying for an exam on Monday. what’s up in your world?
April 11th, 2008 at 6:14 pmOff topic:
Hi, Zoo. ;)
It’s been a while, friend.
On topic:
April 11th, 2008 at 6:19 pmWhat the f(uck is an option for war if you are not an advocate of war? Good lord, they are stupid.
Douggie is just the first cockroach to be caught out in the open when the lights come on. Wait until Rummy’s book, then Cheney’s, then W’s (coloring) book. It will be a meeting at the Vatican soon and John Woo will be sainted.
April 11th, 2008 at 6:27 pmHi, Juan. It has been a while. Don’t forget music night at the Zoo. :)
April 11th, 2008 at 6:33 pmZoo,
Just workin’ and doing some traveling. Keep up the school thing, I know how tough it can get at times.
April 11th, 2008 at 6:40 pmTwo possible captions.
1. All of our lies are thiiisss big.
or
2. Picture in dictionary, “Lyin’ shitstain”
April 11th, 2008 at 6:43 pmAnd what’s up with Diane Rehm lately? She’s had neocon after neocon guest, and there hasn’t been much challenge to what they’re saying.
April 11th, 2008 at 6:44 pm.
Feith: “I don’t think …”
Nuf said!
.
April 11th, 2008 at 6:59 pmCaption contest: “I hope my cell mate has one THIS big”
April 11th, 2008 at 7:01 pmFeith is a liar.
More than advocated. More like obsessed over for years. Rumsfeld and the treasonous Cheney go back a long time. Rumsfeld is a Neo Con. He lies. He kills preemptively on fraudulent precepts.
Neo Cons have turned out to be the domestic enemies our forefathers warned of.
Again, I get the distinct impression, Feith, Pinky, Kristol and many other Neo Cons are tainting the jury pool … preemptively. Things are going to get very uncomfortable for them as more details emerge about the totalitarian PNAC. Rummy may be first to go.
-
http://www.light-to-dark.com/pox_americana.html
April 11th, 2008 at 7:39 pmI hope Feith has adequate security to watch his sorry a**. He might find a ticking device magnetized to the undercarriage of his car.
April 11th, 2008 at 7:43 pmAll you have to do is look at all these guys who advocated this war including the president and you can see that they are a bunch of weak looking cowarding S.O.B., they didnt have the balls to join up and fight themselves. It is a shame,these gus are from that same mentality that stood around and watch is just hate that is berd from their insesters.I am so glad that this generation is dying out, because this ole time thinking is really sad. Check out the history at the Newseum in D.C. and you can see the backwards thinking that spawned all this hate….
April 11th, 2008 at 7:52 pmIts true Feith has an Israeli passport and is a Likudnik. He has no allegiance to the USA
April 11th, 2008 at 8:19 pmTerroristic threats and anti-antisemitism? I smell sock puppet.
April 11th, 2008 at 8:45 pmFeith, the neo-con warmongering Liar…
“FEITH: I don’t think that anyone who actually examines the record would come to the conclusion that this administration was hell-bent on war. … There was an extremely intense effort and a respectful effort made to look at the arguments against going to war.”
may i present ‘once again’ the smoking gun that should put Feith, Bush, Cheney, Rice, and all the neo-con liars behind bars for their false accusations (that they are still spewing) about the Iraqi War.
“It just sticks in my craw every time I hear them say it’s an intelligence failure. It’s an intelligence failure. This was a policy failure,” Drumheller tells Bradley.
Drumheller was the CIA’s top man in Europe, the head of covert operations there, until he retired a year ago. He says he saw firsthand how the White House promoted intelligence it liked and ignored intelligence it didn’t:
“The idea of going after Iraq was U.S. policy. It was going to happen one way or the other,” says Drumheller.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/ stories/ 2006/ 04/ 21/ 60minutes/ main1527749.shtml
April 11th, 2008 at 10:37 pmNeocons- still trying to create reality for the rest of us observe.
April 11th, 2008 at 10:42 pmRumsfeld is a shrewd enough bureaucrat to know when to write what is usually called a “CYA memo.” Something to produce later if everything goes wrong, to make the case it wasn’t your fault.
April 11th, 2008 at 11:04 pmFeith must be worring about their cosy and expensive bubble… it is getting smaller!
April 12th, 2008 at 1:03 pmBlogger bares Rumsfeld’s post 9/11 orders
http://www.guardian.co.uk/ world/ 2006/ feb/ 24/ freedomofinformation.september11
“Hard to get good case. Need to move swiftly,” the notes say. “Near term target needs - go massive - sweep it all up, things related and not.”
Faith tries to cover up for his PNAC buddy. They’re one of the same.
April 13th, 2008 at 4:19 pm