Rumsfeld Dead

[JerryBaumchen 1,365]

Hi folks,

Like him or not, he influenced world events.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Dies At 88 : NPR

Jerry Baumchen

Edited June 30, 2021 by JerryBaumchen

[ryoder 1,590]

“You go to great beyond with the legacy you have, not the legacy you might want or wish to have at a later time.”

[CygnusX-1 43]

That explains it. I knew there had to be a reason that the birds were singing more cheerfully this morning.

[DougH 270]

You have to wonder how his tenure would have turned out if it wasn't for 9/11. I thought he had a goal of streamlining the military before those events unfolded.

[JerryBaumchen 1,365]

25 minutes ago, DougH said:

You have to wonder how his tenure would have turned out if it wasn't for 9/11. I thought he had a goal of streamlining the military before those events unfolded.

Hi Doug,

And Henry Kissenger thought he could streamline the State Dep't.  

Jerry Baumchen

[winsor 236]

On 6/30/2021 at 3:50 PM, JerryBaumchen said:

Hi folks,

Like him or not, he influenced world events.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Dies At 88 : NPR

Jerry Baumchen

If nothing else, he overlooked one of the prime criteria of Project Management - define your scope.

When deciding to go into some place known as 'The Graveyard of Empires' such as Afghanistan, it might be useful to clearly define A) what do we expect to accomplish? and B)_how do we know when we're done?

Though we had some semblance of cassus belli for the invasion of Afghanistan, and none whatsoever for the invasion of Iraq ("We know he has Weapons of Mass Destruction - we have the receipts!"), both endeavors were exercises in cluelessness.

If the goal of attacking was to bring a nation to ruin, I suppose it was a success.  Unfortunately we were among the nations ruined by the adventurism.

I wish we didn't insist on leading with our chin.

 

BSBD,

Winsor

[pchapman 279]

I almost confuse Donald Rumsfeld with Robert McNamara, every time I think of them.  Seemed like top-down efficiency experts, who worked both in private industry and government. Both with documentary videos done later in life (by Errol Morris). Although as someone noted elsewhere,  McNamara apparently did have doubts about his past, while Rumsfeld never conceded much.

[obelixtim 150]

Gone to the great unknown unknown...