Afghanistan

Rumsfeld: Obama Can Win The War On Terror By Emulating Bush (VIDEO)

Jon Terbush | February 21, 2011, 9:53AM

According to Donald Rumsfeld, the Bush administration handled the "War On Terror" just fine, as proven by the fact that President Obama is now such a big fan of their work.

Appearing on CNN with Candy Crowley, Rumsfeld noted that Obama -- despite criticizing Bush on the campaign trail -- has perpetuated several highly contentious Bush-era policies since taking office.

"They have now switched from campaign mode," Rumsfeld said. "They are keeping Guantanamo Bay, they are keeping indefinite detention, they are keeping military commissions. So obviously they have come to the conclusion that it's easier to campaign than it is to govern."

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Sunday Shows

The Sunday Show Line-Ups

Eric Kleefeld | February 18, 2011, 5:57PM

Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI)

Here are the line-ups for the Sunday talk shows this weekend:

• ABC, This Week: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

• CBS, Face The Nation: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).

• CNN, State Of The Union: Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

• Fox News Sunday: Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO).

• NBC, Meet The Press: Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice.

CPAC

Paul Supporters Hijack Cheney-Rumsfeld Reunion (Video)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | February 10, 2011, 4:52PM

Dick Cheney just popped up here at CPAC to introduce his old pal and Bush administration colleague Donald Rumsfeld. Fans of Ron Paul turned what should have been a friendly moment before an audience of fellow conservatives into a screaming match and protest action that resembled what a Cheney-Rumsfeld hug at the Netroots Nation convention might look like.

Rumsfeld is being given CPAC's "Defender Of The Constitution" award, a concept that apparently rankled Paul supporters in the crowd. Many of them got up and walked out en masse at the mention of Rumsfeld, though some stayed behind in the conference hall to heckle the architects of the invasion of Iraq.

One shout of "where's Bin Laden?" rang out as Cheney spoke of Rumsfeld.

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Guantanamo Bay

Rumsfeld: 'Heartbreaking Thing' That We Couldn't Persuade People Gitmo Was 'First Class' (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | February 9, 2011, 3:27PM

Donald Rumsfeld

During his interview last night on Sean Hannity's TV show, former Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld bemoaned the sad fact about the prison camp at Guantanamo -- namely, according to Rumsfeld, that the Bush administration was unable to convince people of just how great it is!

"It is an exceedingly well-run prison. And the folks down there have done, and are doing, an excellent job," said Rumsfeld. "The heartbreaking thing with respect to Guantanamo is not that there's anything wrong with that -- it's one of the finest prison systems in the world. What is awkward is the fact that, for whatever reason, the administration was incapable of persuading people that that was a first class operation, that they were not torturing people, they were not hurting people.

"And it was then, and it is today, a fine operation, and the men and women who operate it for the United States military deserve a lot of credit. And they've taken a lot of heat, unfairly."

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Iraq

Rumsfeld: Still No Apologies For Iraq

Andrew Jones | February 8, 2011, 3:38PM

Donald Rumsfeld

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld continued his reappearance to the media world for his new book Known or Unknown: A Memoir. And he continued to defend his decisions on Iraq with little to no regrets.

On ABC's Good Morning America earlier today, Rumsfeld took a series of tough questions from George Stephanopoulos, including one which led him to deny that calls for increasing troops from top officials -- including Coalition Provisional Authority administrator Paul Bremer -- were ever made.

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Donald Rumsfeld

Rumsfeld: 'It's Possible' We Didn't Send Enough Troops To Iraq -- But 'It's Hard To Know'

Eric Kleefeld | February 7, 2011, 9:56AM

Donald Rumsfeld

Former Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld is starting to allow for the idea that maybe, just maybe, he and the Bush administration should have sent more troops to Iraq -- though he's not ready to say that it's true.

Rumsfeld sat down for an interview Diane Sawyer of ABC News. He said of the troop level question that he was not ready to agree with the criticism, but that it was "possible." He also added: "You know, the path you didn't take is always smoother."

Pressed on the fact that President Bush has written that cutting troop levels in Iraq was "the most important failure in the execution of the war," Rumsfeld called that "interesting."

"I don't have enough confidence to say that that's right. I think that it's possible. We had [an] enormous number of troops ready to go in. They had -- we had off-ramps, if they weren't needed."

"It's hard to know," Rumsfeld continued. "You know, the path you didn't take is always smoother."

Rumsfeld was also asked about whether he would have gone to war if he had known about the lack of actual weapons of mass destruction. He said that he did not know -- and offered these words of wisdom: "What you know today can help you on things you're thinking about tomorrow. It can't help you with things you were thinking about back then."

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