The Great Rumsfeld Snowjob

When Iraqi artist, Muayad Muhsin did this oil painting of former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld he may not have realized quite how insightful it would turn out to be.

In a series of internal musings and memos to his staff, then-Defense Secretary argued that Muslims avoid "physical labor" and wrote of the need to "keep elevating the threat," "link Iraq to Iran" and develop "bumper sticker statements" to rally public support for an increasingly unpopular war.

The memos, often referred to as "snowflakes," shed light on Rumsfeld's brusque management style and on his efforts to address key challenges during his tenure as Pentagon chief. Spanning from 2002 to shortly after his resignation following the 2006 congressional elections, a sampling of his trademark missives obtained yesterday reveals a defense secretary disdainful of media criticism and driven to reshape public opinion of the Iraq war.

Snowflakes?

What becomes obvious in the article is that Rumsfeld was not only disdainful of the media; he was also disdainful of the American public.

The contents of Rumsfeld's memos, aside from some of them demonstrating a serious level of uninformed prejudice, come across like some kind of Madison Avenue advertising executive fighting to keep the public buying a product which has no purpose.

Note that the view we get is not that of Rumsfeld telling his flunkies to "explain" the situation, but to "sell" it.

In one of his longer ruminations, in May 2004, Rumsfeld considered whether to redefine the terrorism fight as a "worldwide insurgency." The goal of the enemy, he wrote, is to "end the state system, using terrorism, to drive the non-radicals from the world." He then advised aides "to test what the results could be" if the war on terrorism were renamed.

So, as opposed to managing the most expensive department in the US government, he was more interested in marketing a reason to pursue the PNAC agenda.

In fact, Rumsfeld had his flood of memos named perfectly: Snowflakes. Culminating in one of the most amazing snowjobs in history.

More at The Carpetbagger Report and Crooks & Liars.