Saturday, March 20, 2004
More on Rumsfeld
Ezra Klein chastises liberals for indiscriminately branding everyone in the Bush administration as evil, and points to a few reasons Donald Rumsfeld is not that bad. His best point concerns Rumsfeld's efforts at military reform. While I respect Rumsfeld's attempts to reform the military, it seems this effort was largely sidelined after 9/11. And let's not forget Rumsfeld's history:
In 1983 and 1984, Reagan sent Rumsfeld to Iraq for two purposes: 1. to let Saddam know that US condemnations of Iraq's use of chemical weapons were just to keep up appearances, and that the US wanted to improve relations with Iraq regardless; and 2. to open the gates for Saddam to purchase an enormous amount of military equipment from US contractors, including helicopters that Saddam later used in the infamous 1988 gassing of the Kurds.
I completely agree with Ezra's points about living in an echo chamber. We should always listen to what the other side is saying. But for me, this doesn't extend to a liking for Donald Rumsfeld.
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In 1983 and 1984, Reagan sent Rumsfeld to Iraq for two purposes: 1. to let Saddam know that US condemnations of Iraq's use of chemical weapons were just to keep up appearances, and that the US wanted to improve relations with Iraq regardless; and 2. to open the gates for Saddam to purchase an enormous amount of military equipment from US contractors, including helicopters that Saddam later used in the infamous 1988 gassing of the Kurds.
I completely agree with Ezra's points about living in an echo chamber. We should always listen to what the other side is saying. But for me, this doesn't extend to a liking for Donald Rumsfeld.
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