Everything You Know Is Wrong
About Donald Rumsfeld, according to a person familiar with him. Douglas J. Feith worked closely with Rumsfeld for four years. He refutes a lot of the popular myths about the man. Especially the cartoonish figure that his political opponents have drawn.
I know that Don Rumsfeld is not an ideologue. He did not refuse to have his views challenged. He did not ignore the advice of his military advisers. And he did not push single-mindedly for war in Iraq. He was motivated to serve the national interest by transforming the military, though it irritated people throughout the Pentagon. Rumsfeld's drive to modernize created a revealing contrast between his Pentagon and the State Department, where Colin Powell was highly popular among the staff. After four years of Powell's tenure at State, the organization chart there would hardly tip anyone off that 9/11 had occurred — or even that the Cold War was over.
Rumsfeld is a bundle of paradoxes, like a fascinating character in a work of epic literature. And as my high school teachers drummed into my head, the best literature reveals that humans are complex. They are not the all-good or all-bad, all-brilliant or all-dumb figures that inhabit trashy novels and news stories. Fine literature teaches us the difference between appearance and reality.
Because of his complexity, Rumsfeld is often misread. His politics are deeply conservative, but he was radical in his drive to force change in every area he oversaw. He is strong-willed and hard-driving, but he built his defense strategies and Quadrennial Defense Reviews on calls for intellectual humility.
Those of us in his inner circle heard him say, over and over again: Our intelligence, in all senses of the term, is limited. We cannot predict the future. We must continually question our preconceptions and theories. If events contradict them, don't suppress the bad news; rather, change your preconceptions and theories.
Read it all, it is a very different picture than is routinely presented in the media or especially by his enemies. I like the way Feith presents the way Rumsfeld has been portrayed:
What Rumsfeld believed, said and did differs from the caricature. The public picture of him today is drawn from news accounts reflecting the views of people who disapproved of his policies or disliked him. Rumsfeld, after all, can be brutally demanding and tough. But I believe history will be more appreciative of him than the first draft has been. What will last is serious history, which, like serious literature, can distinguish appearance from reality.
That's actually a good thing to remember about all media coverage on any subject.
By Bill Franklin, Sunday, 12 November , 2006 @ 5:52 pm
Adelman tells a different story, and has known and worked with Rummy nine times longer than Feith:
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/061120ta_talk_goldberg
Adelman’s account comes off as much more genuine than Feith’s, but perhaps it’s two sides of the same coin. I’ve heard too many reports to believe Feith’s assertion that Rumsfeld didn’t ignore the advice of advisers. Adelman makes it quite clear he did.
By Wan, Sunday, 12 November , 2006 @ 10:20 pm
Let’s be a bit more honest here. You, as well as anyone, know that Douglas Feith is one of the neocons clique that pursued and botched the Iraq war. I’m too lazy to google this, but one of the prominent generals (Tommy Franks?) have been quoted saying Douglas Feith is the stupidest person he has ever known.
This defense of Rumsfeld character is as good as written by his mom.
By Gaius, Sunday, 12 November , 2006 @ 10:25 pm
Wan, that does not sound like anything Franks would say. But if you have proof that was said - by someone - provide a link.
By Wan, Sunday, 12 November , 2006 @ 11:38 pm
Here you go, this is the first link I found when I googled “Douglas Feith” and “stupidest”:
http://www.slate.com/id/2100899/
By Sadly, No! Research Labs, Sunday, 12 November , 2006 @ 11:42 pm
Oh, we’ve got a link to it.
Good lord. Feith?!
By Rheinhard, Sunday, 12 November , 2006 @ 11:45 pm
Although I’m not Wan, I’m happy to lend a hand.
http://www.slate.com/id/2100899/
http://www.slate.com/id/2099277/
Tommy Franks, quotation in Bob Woodward’s “Plan of Attack”, p. 281.
You might also care to peruse this.
By dgbellak, Monday, 13 November , 2006 @ 2:05 am
Yes, it was Franks.
By Fielding Mellish, Monday, 13 November , 2006 @ 1:56 pm
Next up: Giovanni Gentile’s completely neutral account of what it was like to work with Benito Mussolini.