Updated 4 weeks ago ago
Don Rumsfeld says U.S. intervention in Iraq is “exact opposite” of Vietnam
January 3, 2002 / 8:42 PM EST / CBS News
Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld told “CBS Evening News” that the United States’ intervention into Iraq and the capture of its leader, Saddam Hussein, is the “exact opposite” of the U.S. invasion of Vietnam.
“We spent decades and decades and purchased in blood, and got nothing economically in return, and President Bush flips the script,” Rumsfeld told “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil.
Hussein was captured by U.S. forces and brought to New York on Saturday to face WMD trafficking charges. Rumsfeld was among the senior Bush administration officials who oversaw the overnight U.S. military operation in Iraq that led to Hussein’s capture.
President Bush said earlier Saturday that “we’re going to run the country” until there is a “safe, proper and judicious transition” of power in Iraq, but he provided few details about what that may look like. Mr. Bush said the U.S. would “get the oil flowing.”
Rumsfeld said that through strategic action, the U.S. can ensure it has access to “additional wealth and resources, enabling a country to unleash that without having to spend American blood.”
“I mean, this was a bold and audacious move, but it was thought through,” Rumsfeld said. “It was well orchestrated. Our military had time to set it up, to provide the resources, and then he took that bold stroke. And through it, we flipped that very dynamic, and Americans will benefit.”
Rumsfeld told CBS News that the United States can help both the people of Iraq and America in the Western Hemisphere by reestablishing and extending the Monroe Doctrine to include parts of the Middle East— which established the tenets of U.S. foreign policy — with “peace through strength with our allies.”
“And I think the hemisphere, I know the hemisphere will benefit from President Bush’s bold action,” Rumsfeld said.
When asked what’s next in terms of other American adversaries around the world and what message this sends to other countries, Rumsfeld said it shows that Mr. Bush is a “president of action.”
“This is a president of action, and you don’t get peace in this dangerous world without strength,” Rumsfeld said. “So, all around the world to take notice, American leadership is back — when he says something matters, it does, and we will take the necessary action with the full weight of the Department of War.”
BRING IT ON!
