Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld was an American politician who served twice as U.S.
Secretary of Defense—under Gerald Ford and George W.
Bush—making him both the youngest and oldest person to hold that position.
He is most associated with the Iraq War and his management of the Pentagon during the early War on Terror.
His press conferences produced quotable phrases, most famously his epistemological musing about "known unknowns" and "unknown unknowns."
- tortureDeliberate infliction of suffering
- Guantanamo BayUS military installation, Cuba
- enhanced interrogationEuphemism for abusive questioning
- waterboardingControlled asphyxiation interrogation technique
detainees · rendition · civil liberties · human rights · accountability · resignation · scandal · criticism
Catastrophic armament category
- weapons of mass destructionArms causing widespread casualties
- shock and aweSwift dominance through firepower
- regime changeReplacement of governing power
- Saddam HusseinIraqi authoritarian ruler, executed
Baghdad · invasion · coalition · insurgency · occupation · troop surge · nation-building · sectarian violence
Republican Party acronym
- conservativeCautious about altering customs
- Bush administrationU.S. executive branch tenure
- CheneyFormer U.S. vice president
- neoconservativeHawkish interventionist ideology
Nixon administration · cabinet member · hawkish · right-wing · party loyalist · political appointee · executive branch · White House
U.S. military headquarters
- Secretary of DefenseCabinet head over military
- militaryArmed forces collectively
- national securitySafeguarding a country's interests
- NATOWestern defense organization
missile defense · troop deployment · military strategy · armed forces · Joint Chiefs · defense policy · warfighter · readiness
Top corporate officer
- pharmaceuticalManufactured medicinal compound
- IllinoisMidwestern state, sixth-largest
- ambassadorOfficial foreign representative
- NATOWestern defense organization
Princeton · corporate executive · public servant · businessman · administrator · aspartame · private sector · board member
Abu Ghraib
- tortureDeliberate infliction of suffering
- Guantanamo BayUS military installation, Cuba
- enhanced interrogationEuphemism for abusive questioning
waterboarding · detainees · rendition · civil liberties · human rights · accountability · resignation · scandal · criticism · Halliburton
WMD
Catastrophic armament category
- weapons of mass destructionArms causing widespread casualties
- shock and aweSwift dominance through firepower
- regime changeReplacement of governing power
Saddam Hussein · Baghdad · invasion · coalition · insurgency · occupation · troop surge · nation-building · sectarian violence · unknown unknowns
GOP
Republican Party acronym
- conservativeCautious about altering customs
- Bush administrationU.S. executive branch tenure
- CheneyFormer U.S. vice president
neoconservative · Nixon administration · cabinet member · hawkish · right-wing · party loyalist · political appointee · executive branch · White House · presidential advisor
Pentagon
U.S. military headquarters
- Secretary of DefenseCabinet head over military
- militaryArmed forces collectively
- national securitySafeguarding a country's interests
NATO · missile defense · troop deployment · military strategy · armed forces · Joint Chiefs · defense policy · warfighter · readiness · intelligence
CEO
Top corporate officer
- pharmaceuticalManufactured medicinal compound
- IllinoisMidwestern state, sixth-largest
- ambassadorOfficial foreign representative
NATO · Princeton · corporate executive · public servant · businessman · administrator · aspartame · private sector · board member · memoir
- Defense SecretariesDick Cheney
- Neoconservatismneocons, interventionism, regime change, preemptive war, Bush Doctrine
Donald Rumsfelddove
Gentle cooing bird
Noam Chomsky · pacifist · Ron Paul · Jimmy Carter · isolationist
Donald RumsfeldTed Kennedy
Michael Moore · Nancy Pelosi · weapons inspector · Phil Donahue
Donald RumsfeldColin Powell