The ever-shrinking group of Americans who believe invading Iraq was a good idea may soon receive some support, in the form of a memoir by one of its key architects, Donald Rumsfeld.
The former defense secretary has the publishing world “abuzz” over the possibility that he may write a book “justifying the military strategy for the war in Iraq.”
While a deal has not yet been struck, Mr. Rumsfeld has toured New York publishing houses with an outline of his book in an effort to gauge how much information he would have to disclose in the memoir in order to justify a large cash advance. […]
[T]he Web site Galleycat reported a sighting last month of Mr. Rumsfeld visiting Penguin books, whose Sentinel imprint specializes in conservative subjects, and he is believed to have spoken with five or six other New York-based publishers to test the waters and learn more about the process.
Rumsfeld’s memoir is unlikely to be deeply revelatory or candid about the administration’s failures. When Bush’s former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill authored a highly critical account of the White House, Rumsfeld called him to complain. “’What is this business? Someone tells me you’re going to write a, you know, one of those’ — what do you call them? Sour grapes or — you know, one of those insider things,” Rumsfeld said he told O’Neill.
Moreover, Rumsfeld — who once authored “Rumsfeld’s Rules,” a manual that encouraged presidential aides to quickly address mistakes — has suggested he won’t concede any mistakes in the Iraq war strategy. Rumsfeld said last year, “Of course the implication that there was something wrong with the war plan is amusing.” Indeed, “amusing” appears to be the best description for Rumsfeld’s forthcoming memoir.