[Vision2020] Rumsfeld Links Bush Critics, Nazi Appeasers

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (August 30, 2006) Spokesman Review -

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism"

- Thomas Jefferson

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Rumsfeld links Bush critics, Nazi appeasers 

Julian E. Barnes 
Los Angeles Times
August 30, 2006

SALT LAKE CITY - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld compared critics of the
Bush administration to those who sought to appease the Nazis before World
War II, warning Tuesday that the United States is confronting "a new type of
fascism."

Rumsfeld, speaking before the American Legion convention, delivered some of
his most explicit and extended attacks yet on the administration's critics,
provoking criticism from furious Democrats who accused him of "campaigning
on fear."

By comparing U.S. foreign policy with World War II and the Cold War,
Rumsfeld sought to portray skeptics of Bush's foreign policy as being on the
wrong side of history. Rumsfeld again ridiculed American officials who,
before World War II, wished to negotiate with Adolf Hitler.

"I recount that history because, once again, we face similar challenges in
efforts to confront the rising threat of a new type of fascism," Rumsfeld
said. "But some seem not to have learned history's lessons."

He continued: "Can we truly afford to believe that, somehow or someway,
vicious extremists could be appeased?"

His use of the word "appease" was particularly notable, clearly tying
administration critics to the failed efforts of the pre-Churchill British
government to mollify Hitler.
 
Rumsfeld has become one of the Bush administration's most divisive figures,
and demands for his resignation have become a litmus test in congressional
races around the country as Iraq confronts deepening violence and civil
strife.

Nevertheless, Rumsfeld aggressively defended the war and his leadership of
it in speeches to the American Legion on Tuesday, the Veterans of Foreign
Wars a day earlier and in other meetings with service members this week.

In each speech, Rumsfeld has acknowledged the reality of debate in a free
society. But he has attacked the news media, charging that reports have been
manipulated by Iraqi insurgents or al-Qaida terrorists. He has suggested
that negative news stories and criticism of the war sap the nation's will to
fight in Iraq.

"The struggle we are in is too important - the consequences too severe - to
have the luxury of returning to the 'blame America first' mentality,"
Rumsfeld told the American Legion. "Can we truly afford to return to the
destructive view that America - not the enemy - is the real source of the
world's troubles?"

Rumsfeld's view of Bush administration critics contrasted with that of
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who in a speech to the same Legion
convention later Tuesday took a softer tone.

"On the one hand, Americans want desperately to succeed in Iraq. They want
to do whatever it takes to achieve victory," Rice said. "But on the other
hand, there are unsettling questions. Is success possible? Is it really
worth the effort?"

Rice said she believed the American strategy in Iraq was working, and that
the U.S. military must remain in the country or risk handing a victory to
violent extremists in the Middle East.

"If we abandon the Iraqi people, before their government is strong enough to
secure the country, then we will show reformers across the region that
America cannot be trusted to keep its word," Rice said. "We will embolden
extremist enemies of moderation and of democratic reform."

Rumsfeld's speech drew sharp complaints from Democrats, including Sen.
Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, whose father, Joseph P. Kennedy, was
criticized by Rumsfeld in a speech Monday. The elder Kennedy, who served as
a U.S. ambassador to Great Britain before World War II, resigned that post
because he opposed British and U.S. war preparations.

"Secretary Rumsfeld is the last person who should preach the lessons of
history after ignoring them for the last six years," Kennedy said in a
statement. "As a result of his failures, Americans are less safe."

Both Kennedy and Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., renewed their
call for Rumsfeld to be replaced.

Rumsfeld has not directly identified the administration critics he has
attacked. But he pointed to "a focus on dividing our country" and has listed
what he considered missteps or mistakes by the news media.

For instance, he said news outlets have carried more reports about U.S.
military abuses than about Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Smith, who posthumously
won the Medal of Honor for heroism during the initial invasion of Iraq.

Rumsfeld was applauded by the American Legion for calling on the group's
members to "set the record straight."

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho


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"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism"

- Thomas Jefferson

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