Donald Rumsfeld - US - Iraq War - ProCon.org

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US - IRAQ WAR

Donald Rumsfeld Biography
Title:	Former US Secretary of Defense
Position:	Pro to the question "Should the US Have Attacked Iraq?"
Reasoning:	"Tim, we said from the outset that there are several terrorist networks that have global reach and that there were several countries that were harboring terrorists that have global reach. We weren't going into Iraq when we were hit in [sic] September 11. And the question is: Well, what do you do about that? If you know there are terrorists and you know there's terrorist states - Iraq's been a terrorist state for decades - and you know there are countries harboring terrorists, we believe, correctly, I think, that the only way to deal with it is - you can't just hunker down and hope they won't hit you again. You simply have to take the battle to them." Interview with Tim Russert, Meet the Press, Nov. 2, 2003
Theoretical Expertise Ranking:	Experts Individuals with PhD's, JD's, or equivalent advanced degrees in fields relevant to the US - Iraq conflict. Also top-level government officials (such as foreign leaders, US presidents, Founding Fathers, Supreme Court Justices, members of legislative bodies, cabinet members, military leaders, etc.) with positions relevant to the US - Iraq conflict.
Involvement and Affiliations:	21st US Secretary of Defense, 2001-2006 Chairman, US Ballistic Missile Threat Commission, 1998 Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), General Instrument Corporation, 1990-1993 Member, Board of Visitors, National Defense University, 1988-1992 Member, President's General Advisory Committee on Arms Control, 1982-1986 Senior Advisor, President's Panel on Strategic Systems, 1983-1984 Member, US Joint Advisory Commission on US-Japan Relations, 1983-1984 Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East, 1983-1984 CEO, President, and then Chairman, G.D. Searle & Co., 1977-1985 Recipient, Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1977 13th US Secretary of Defense, 1975-1977 Chief of Staff, George H.W. Bush White House, 1974-1975 Chairman, transition to the Presidency of Gerald R. Ford, 1974 US Ambassador, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 1973-1974 Counsellor to the President, 1971-1972 Director, Economic Stabilization Program, 1971-1972 Director, Office of Economic Opportunity, 1969-1970 Assistant to the President, 1969-1970 Member, US House of Representatives (R-IL), 1962-1969
Education:	BA, Princeton University, 1954
Other:	Became a member of the Retired Reserve with the rank of Captain in 1989
Quoted in:	1. Did Saddam Hussein and his regime pose an immediate or imminent threat? 2. Did Saddam Hussein have weapons of mass destruction after the 1st Gulf War? 3. Did Iraq under Saddam Hussein support Al Qaeda? 4. Did Sep. 11, 2001 justify the Bush Administration's decision to attack Iraq? 5. Could regime change in Iraq promote the spread of democracy in the Middle East? 6. To what extent did the US supply Iraq with materials used to create weapons of mass destruction? 7. Should the sectarian violence in Iraq in 2006 and 2007 have been described as a civil war? 8. Should the US apply the Geneva Conventions to prisoners detained in Guantanamo Bay? 9. Should the prison at Guantanamo Bay be closed? 10. Can the cost of war with Iraq (and its aftermath) be estimated? 11. Will the revenue from Iraqi oil production pay for reconstruction? 12. Did the Bush Administration support the idea of troop reduction or withdrawal? 13. To what extent was the US involved with the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988)?

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