Rummy In Action - Memorial/Celebration In Photos

Posted By Blackfive

First, we'll begin seriously with one that has gotten little attention:

Rumsfeld on PBS helping carry a stretcher shortly after the Pentagon was hit. [Source: US Army]

Thank you, Mr. Secretary.

Now, let's look at some of his less profound moves.  How can someone with a nickname like Rummy be such a badass?  And we are going to miss the many fighting styles of Donald Rumsfeld.  In an Irish-wake style tribute, I give you RUMMY!

The all too common "You're seriously pissing me off!" look.

Then, come the hands registered as lethal weapons:

"Helen, I know ka-ra-te!"
"Just put your skull right here, pal!"
"If John Kerry had balls, I'd crush them like this!"
"I will now unlease my death ray on you!"
"I know Teddy Kennedy's a big guy...but really, he's only this big!"

"Actually, Dan, my balls are this big!"

Scroll down two posts for Jimbo's favorite with Rummy giving double digit action!

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Comments

[Saskboy]

Pretty good tribute. I found your entry through SDA blog.

I can't wait for the Daily Show clip tribute to Rummy though.

[Old Tanker]

I'm going to miss the way he rolled over reporters......

[Tantor]

Farewell to the best Secretary of War the United States ever had. Now, after fighting so well, he is undone by low politics akin to the example of Pericles and Belisarius.

[BillyA]

America just spanked some Neo-Con azz...Bye Rummy

[LongTabSigO]

Ok...all the whiny Flag Officers, unhinged liberals, and the Media got their wish. SecDef Rumsfeld stepped down.

Now what?

I hope they are satisfied.

I raise a glass in admiration to a great man!

My favorite Rumsfeld "story" from the Onion:
Rumsfeld Hosts No-Holds-Barred Martial Arts Tournament At Remote Island Fortress

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30496

Good luck, Mr. Gates. We'll have your back. Make sure you have ours! No Retreat. No Surrender.

[Akinoluna]

I still think the photo of Rummy with Spiderman is the best photo ever! ha ha...

Spidey Rum
(http://akinoluna.blogspot.com/2005/04/super-rummy.html)

P.S. Why is the comment page...um..lavender??

[RiserBurns]

These multiculturalist roman elitists have no clue as to what kind of war this is.

SECDEF Rumsfeld is a great man--I pray history reflects it as such.

[Jim]

Going to miss this man. In the wake of the elections it was a gift to our enemies.

[David]

I will miss this man also. As Jim said his departure "was a gift to our enemies." I would add both foreign and domestic.

[anonymous]

The 'working men' of the US military just lost one of the best Friends they ever had.

No wonder so many extremist lefites are so happy.

[Pops]

Well, we got our ASS handed to us yesterday, followed by this today! This is a great man and a warrior of great renown. Sir(SEC DEF) you have my respect and my gratitude. I do not know your replacement, but you were and are the "A-Team", I have two sons in Iraq as we speak, I am terrified as to their future, and the future of this country.
I see the retreat from Siagon all over again!
Have a good retirement Mr. Rummsfield, you deserve it!
Pops Out

[Darthparrish]

You forgot to put this picture in your tribute!

http://www.awolbush.com/rumsfeld_saddam.jpg

[MSG J]

Just came across this, great tribute to the Honorable Don Rumsfeld, but remember, they thought they had heard the last of him back from '75 to 77, but he came back!!!

[rt]

i'm gonna miss rumsfeld.

years from now, he's still going to evoke a whole lot of emotions.

[douglas]

Even in his departure, he puts service above all else. He's stepping out, because they all know that with the Dems in power, they'll keep him too busy on capitol hill in stupid investigations and hearings that he wouldn't be able to get any real work done. Better to take leave than be the source of harful distraction. Thank you Secretary Rumsfeld.

[Ledger1]

Rumsfeld knew how to handle ankle biters. I will miss Rumsfeld giving a swift boot to the rear of some yapping NYT reporter.

In his pre-Bush days some yapping reporter would ask a “gotchya question” which went something like this:

“The word is there is huge formation of the enemy forces that can strike our guys at anytime. What are you going to do about it?”

Rumsfeld would calmly answer: What is their co-ordinance (I will call in an air strike)?

The reporter would fall silent and Rumsfeld would move to a question with more substance.

Rumsfeld will go down in history has one of the toughest Sec. of Def. in modern history.

Fast forward, I think Rumsfeld was looking for a way out (he tried to resigning 3 times). When it became apparent that the dems would control the House and the Senate with all of the powerful committees that control spending and investigations he was handcuffed and left to a vindictive enemy.

The dems would have blocked him at every turn. He could do nothing and probably would have been hounded by the dems for the next 2 years.

Partisan politics can be very nasty. He had to bail out. But, that is the bitter nature of the gutter politics that the dems use.

[Darthparrish]

The Bitter nature of the politics that the Dems use?????? Ledger1 you cannot be seious. Anything that the Democrats do with their power in congress in the next two years in regards to investigations will be nothing, i repeat, nothing compared to what the RIGHT/REPUBLICANS did to Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton has did nothing comparable to the crimes committed by Bush and his administration and that includes Donald "Rummy" Rumsfeld! So dont say that you dont like your own tactics just because they are being used against you this time.

[Dick Stanley]

Rumsfeld was cool. Thanks for the tribute.

[Giovanni]

Oh well at least one good thing came out this election.

Thank God. Hey Rummy don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. Actualy yes please let the door hit you in the ass, the head, the foot hopefuly you will impale your self on a letter opener,,, I am sure you will miss the heart (not having one will aid on that)

[Harvey]

I've never seen a man have less tolerance for bullshit at a press conference than Rummy.

GOD how I'll miss him...

[Giovanni]

Yes because if there is something I am looking for secretary of DEFENSE is how he handles the press.

I guess that was the secret to his SUCKcess.

[Rich Casebolt]

Actually, Mr. Clinton's greatest crime was far greater than any error of this Administration, darthparrish ... but it wasn't the crime he was impeached for.

His crime was sustained INACTION in the face of clearly-evident enemies ... an abject refusal to act directly and decisively to eliminate both Saddam & Sons, and Al Quada.

His co-conspirators are many of those who are about to take leadership positions in our Congress ... where they can continue to diminish the severity of their crime, in the eyes of the American people.

In the 1990's they kicked this can down the road to the next Administration ... then turned around and excoriated them for daring to pick it up, crush it, and "recycle" what is left into rights-respecting nations.

If Iraq is once again hijacked by thugs or fanatics, you can thank these "Friends of Bill".

Not George W. Bush ...

... or Donald Rumsfeld ...

... the only two leaders in my lifetime with the 'nads to act decisively to oppose radical Islam and its fellow-traveler in brutality, Baathism.

My prediction? In a few years, we will be thanking these two maligned men for helping civilization dodge a Baathist bullet ... just as we now thank the much-maligned Israeli military for bombing Osirak in the early 1980's.

[Peg C.]

I love Rummy. Back in 2001/2, even SNL loved him. The way he exposed the terminal stupidity of the MSM was awe-inspiring.

[Darthparrish]

Brilliant, if things go good from now on it will be because of Bush not the new congress, but if things go bad it will be because of Bill Clinton??????????????????????????????? That is a fail safe plan to make yourself look good i guess.

[Rich Casebolt]

Darthparrish ... yep.

Clinton ... and all those who encouraged INACTION before him, all the way back to those who left Vietnam hanging in 1975 ... let this get started, and grow.

Bush ... and Rumsfeld ... have worked to finish it. History will hold them to account for their mistakes. The question is ... when will the perpetrators of INACTION be held accountable, for their far more egregious errors?

The effort of these two wise, stubborn ... and fallable ... men has now been impeded (as others like it have been before) by a combination of Leftist idealism, realpolitik, and slanted MSM coverage that can't even connect the dots and see the progress as well as one Soldier's Dad.

Understand that sometimes, there is no Grand Strategy that will quickly put an end to the violence ... and often, substituting talk and diplomacy for that is ineffective against those who will turn your good-faith trust against you as a weapon ... allowing them to hijack and exploit the wealth and infrstructure of whole nations, to use as leverage to gain a further advantage for use against you.

That is EXACTLY what Saddam was doing, with the US, with the UN, and with the IAEA ... and similar brutal endeavors will be enabled, if the new Congressional leadership stays true-to-form ... and elevates diplomacy over confrontation as they try to end this war Fast and Cheap.

(As in many areas of human endeavor, one can boil down the choices here to Good/Fast/Cheap ... as long as one acknowledges that we are limited to two of the three.)

At the same time, we value innocent life enough -- from both a moral, and a strategic standpoint -- to not win this war Good and Fast; i.e. the wholesale destruction of Iraq, which would deny the enemy the ability to exploit it ... and raise a moral stink that would poison progress against Islamofascist (including the secular, Baathist variety) terrorism worldwide.

This Administration WISELY made the choice of Good and Cheap ... which mandated that we stay engaged in Iraq to OUTLAST the enemies there, while protecting the innocent and their legitimate government from destruction at the hands of the enemy.

It wasn't -- and isn't -- going to be Fast ... at times, it will remind you of the Rocky Balboa strategy of fighting ...

... but, in the light of the enemy's STATED Grand Strategy of continual progress towards a worldwide Caliphate -- it is necessary to ACT to stabilize and keep Iraq in the hands of free people. We MUST remain engaged ... failure will only make the next battle bigger, and closer to home.

Never forget who is perpetrating the violence ... and who may aid and abet it, through their attempts to turn from Good and Cheap, to Fast and Cheap, in the name of politics.

This is not a situation ... it is war, and it will not go away even if ignored in the name of "progressive" advancement.

[John]

I hereby nominate Colonel Saul Tigh to take Rumsfeld's place.

[John]

Eh, it figures: wrong link. Here is the right one.

[Darthparrish]

Bill Clinton couldnt do anything if you remember due to the Republican control of congress that claimed they were a revolution and refused to work with Clinton to get anything done. Plus all of the stuff going on in Iraq is a lot of our own fault for giving Sadam help back in the day and allowing him to thrive. I believe Rumsfeld was a major player in that to. So i put the blame of Sadam onto Rummy and friends.

[Rich Casebolt]

Darth ... the GOP didn't stop him from bombing Kosovo. Especially if he was as intelligent and articulate as y'all said he is, he certainly could have made a convincing case for removing Saddam.

He had the opportunity, over eight years, to do the right thing and eliminate this thug's ability to hijack Iraq for totalitarian expansionism, in the only sure way available, by eliminating his hold on power ... and he DIDN'T PAY MORE THAN LIP SERVICE TO DOING SO!

If the GOP would have held him up, it is ONLY because Clinton's fellow-travelers in (your) Leftist lunacy had done a very effective job in getting their "war is NEVER the answer" message accepted.

It took the events of 11 September 2001, to get us to stop listening.

Keep in mind why Saddam got the relatively small amount of help from us ... because people like you kept telling us that the direct and decisive use of American force against thugs like him and the Iranian mullahs was "imperialist", "warmongering", and "arrogant" ... and UNACCEPTABLE.

Therefore, we did the next best thing ... proxified them and played them off against each other,

Leaving them alone, to grow in strength and brutality unmolested, wasn't an option back then.

It still isn't ... but we have now seen that even proxy warfare isn't up to the task of securing this civilization. We either directly engage this enemy ... or leave the battlefield totally ...

... but leaving the battlefield isn't an option today, for the enemy, if left unmolested, will just grow stronger, and attack at times and places of their choosing. Despite our "peaceful" intentions, all we end up with is a fight ... much closer to home, against a stronger enemy than before.

That is what you and your ilk simply do not understand. Peaceful coexistence is not in the lexicon of radical Islam and/or its secular counterparts.

You either prepare to be boarded by them ... or act to repel the boarders, before they can get close to your deck.

[Abdelilah Boukili]

The replacement of Rumsfeld shouldn’t come as a surprise. He was under fire for almost a year, especially from veteran generals in the US armed forces who were critical of his management of the war in Iraq and the running of the defence department. It is significant that he was replaced. This means he didn’t offer his resignation. He stuck to his position to the last moment when the Bush administration was faced with the reality through mid-term election results and not from polls or editorials in military press or in influential press like the Washington post which was among the first to publish the shortcomings of the US military in Iraq.

The resignation of Rumsfeld is likely to create a shake-up in the defence department. But his departure is unlikely to create a major new approach to the situation in Iraq as the Bush administration is set to stay there until its job is finished. Rumsfeld should be seen just as minus one from the group of hawks of war such as Bush, Cheney and Rice who are still running the war in Iraq. His shadow will stay in the defence department as a new defence secretary doesn't mean the early return of US forces from Iraq. The situation in Iraq for Bush is equated with the US interests in the Middle East.

The Republicans are facing double challenge. First, how to succeed in keeping the government going smoothly without severe confrontation with the Democrats at the Congress. Second how to ensure staying in power after 2008 presidential elections.

The remaining years for Bush in office can bring surprises, now that the Republicans lost control of the Congress. The US policy may undergo a new drama. As Bush came to office in a dramatic way through the Supreme Court decision, he may end his presidency in a dramatic way. In what way? Time will tel

[Ymarsakar]

We need a quantum time machine.

[Darthparrish]

Rummy w/enemy

[jordan]

I will miss him. Of course you don't pick a SECDEF based on how they manage the press, but in this war, how they well they do in front of the camera means more than it ever has in the past.

His videoclips sparring with the media during Afghanistan and early Iraq kept you rooting for more. In those, he showed a relaxed confidence and ease with wielding tremendous power that would leave most men shaking. The exchanges made him look in charge of the world. The reporters ended up looking stupid, and they turned against him.

After 9/11, as we have all sooo forgotten, we all needed someone who we felt could stand up to anything. He gave an aura of confidence that, along with Bush, restored for some of us that faith in American capabilities, strength and fearlessness were still justified. His press conferences boosted our own confidence that we could indeed do what we set out to do -- a steel presence that made you feel safe, and that you were scared sh**less of at the same time.

He was what we needed at that time, and did his country proud.

[alexa kim]

Handling the press is on the same level as combat with the enemy.

The insurgents and terrorists long ago recognized the value and power of the press and learned quickly how to manipulate it. The Press plays Useful Idiot when it hangs on every word uttered by insurgents and terrorists who look like harmless peasants and fancies itself the defender of the down-trodden (but only if you are OTW--Other Than White). I admired Rummy's handling of the press and got a great kick out of it when he'd hand them back their heads. Especially Helen Thomas, who, frankly, really should be retired. Aside from her own agenda, she serves no one with her whining accusations pinned with a question sound.

I just wish we had more masterful manipulators of Earnest American Can't Keep A Secret Gullible Self-Hating Raised On Too Much Sugar Too Scaredy-Cat To Leave The Green Zone Press.

The thing about doing anything is you run the risk of having it turn on you later. One day your ally, the next day your enemy. It's human nature. It's not a happy fact. But people who live in the now and must deal with the now do not have the luxury or budget to prepare for when and if the players go rabid. Rumsfeld was asked to do terrible work in order to serve his country. Doing the hard work will make some people angry and hate you. He's only human and he's allowed to make mistakes.

And I will never forget watching him help lift wounded away from the Pentagon after the plane hit. Never.

[Kate Shanahan]

Ugh, big shoes to fill. Godspeed Rummy. I hate that it happened like this. The neo-comms (new communists) have won a hollow victory.

[Martin]

Darth

Regime change in Iraq has been US policy since when?

The fact is Clinton was only tepidly supportive of the policy in terms of ACTION TAKEN - the real barometer of anything is action, not words.

You seriously think the GOP congress would not have funded action to oust Saddam? Puhleeeez.

[Barbara]

Godspeed Donald Rumsfeld! This country was blessed to have you in our time of need.You are my kind of HERO and good looking to boot! Enjoy your retirement,you deserve it!

[Benjamin G]

In 1941 the Japanese attacked us at Pearl Harbor and the United States went to war against the two most efficient and powerful military machines on earth, both in the process of carving out huge totalitarian empires. Just over four years later the leader of one of those empires was dead, the people of the other asking an American general if he would like to be their Emperor, and America was the greatest power on the face of the planet.

In 2001 a bunch of religious fanatics attacked the United States in New York and at the Pentagon. More than five years later the masterminds of that attack and the man who sheltered them in his country are all at large, the evil fundamentalist government which ruled that country is out of power but still exists as a resistance group, murdering our own and their own people, and acting as a government in much of the country. Elections in nearby states have brought enemies of our nation into positions of power, and our closest ally in the region was unable to acheive victory in a bloody little border conflict, which has emboldened its enemies. The nation in the region which poses the greatest threat to our interests has transformed itself from a barely stable and perhaps moderating state to an openly belligerant antagonist of growing power and influence. We invaded a fading secular thugocracy uninvolved in the attack on our nation, ousting its monstrous leader only to watch helplessly as it became a chaos of religious fundamentalism and sectarian conflict edging now toward being a flash point for a broader regional conflict. We have squandered prestige, credibility, good will, a mountain of national treasure, and most shameful of all, the lives of nearly three thousand of our best young men and women in a conflict where we have remained steadfastly two to three steps behind the situation on the ground and the evolving tactics of those who would do us harm.

The Good Book says "by their fruit shall you know them".

Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative or anywhere in between...if you think Rummy leaving is a bad thing or that he and this administration have been doing a good job for our nation since the attacks on 9-11, you're putting your partisan interests in front of those of our nation.

[Benjamin G]

And come on, this is a site with plenty of military guys. Forget about the situation at Tora Bora that someone told all the liberals to carp about so they can pretend to sound tough. What about Fallujah?

Tell me that you didn't read about the mutilation of those contractors and think to yourself "We have to go in, within hours would be best but within three days is essential. We have to hunt down the people who did this, or at least the people who back the people who did this and we have to ruin them. If it takes turning this city to rubble it just may be the right thing. And if we don't have enough boots on the ground to do it the safest way we can it doesn't matter, because whatever we lose here we'll more than make up later. Because if we don't answer this, with overwhelming force and absolute resolution, people who are our enemies all over this damned country and all over this damned region are going to start getting brave. And if we let them get brave this situation is going to turn ugly. And trying to fix it later is going to cost a lot more than fixing it now".

Tell me you didn't think that. Months later, when the administration finally took a swing at Fallujah, it was way too late. When they finally did level the place it was laughably too late. No one in the MSM or any other kind of media talks about it, but this administration failed at Fallujah like they've failed at almost every juncture where real strength was required. It was a failure of will, a failure to think strategically. It was running like water down the path that offered the least political downside. And that isn't how you run a war.

Good riddance, Rummy. Can't wait until George and Dick join you.

[Benjamin G]

And it was Rummy who came out and talked about criminals and deadenders after Fallujah. No he wasn't alone in the administration in doing it, and yeah, he probably did it at the direction of his superiors. Within what, two weeks, Sadr was raising his first military insurrection in the south. And even though we put him in his box for awhile we never closed the lid. There's only two ways to judge this bunch. Either they were just playing political angles or they got caught with their pants down so often that they might as well have taken the danged things off. Our folks are the best in the world, and they deserve leadership one heck of a lot better than that.

If you're mourning Rummy leaving...ah well, I've said my piece.

[nipper]

Just want to remind everyone who likes to go back to Pearl Harbor and the Nips:

We're still there.

How many years now? 60?

Get over yerselves - your gasbagging will suffocate that liberal little brain of yours.

[Benjamin G]

Let's see...

Call them a liberal. Check.

Bring up a situation that is in no way analogous to the one we currently face hoping you can throw up enough chaff to obscure the fact you don't have an argument. Check. (or maybe you think there are still banzai charges directed at our troops)

Random insult. Check.

You did your bit.

[Bart]

Darthparrot said: 'Plus all of the stuff going on in Iraq is a lot of our own fault for giving Sadam help back in the day...'

I know what this guy is getting at and I am so tired of this liberal myth that we are somehow responsible for arming Saddam. The evidence from reliable sources is unequivocal. US military hardware in Saddam's possession was absolutely miniscule, I'm talking less than 1% of his total inventory derived from other sources, especially France, Russia and China. Those weren't US jets that he flew to Iran in the first Gulf War, they were French Mirages and Russian MiGs. And, those weren't US tanks we faced in the desert, they were Russian T-62's, T-72's and others. A fraction of Saddam's helicopter fleet were antiquated Vietnam era US Hueys and Bells - the lion's share were models like French Allouettes and Russian Hinds.

His turnkey chemical weapons plants came from Germany (google Karl Kolb). His chemical precursers came from France (google Protec). The modicum of dual use material related to his WMD programs that came from the US were obtained illegally and companies involved were prosecuted. The much ballyhooed transfer of biological materials from the ATCC were well cataloged strains available to all US trading partners for legitimate agricultural research. Similar materials were obtained from similar institutes from around the world, including the Pasteur Institute of France (yes, the same Pasteur responsible for the introduction of pasteurization of your morning milk) and Porton Down in Britain.

I ask all reasonable people, please don't let the liberals get by you with this whopper. It is a charge entirely illegitimate and without merit. Did we aid Saddam toward the end of the Iraq-Iran war against Iran? You betcha'! Iran under the Mullahs is no better than was Saddam and, we had no interest in their achieving a strategic military victory in the Middle East. But, our substantial involvment was in the realm of providing intelligence on Iranian troop movements and allowing financial aid to reach Iraq from diverse sources, not in providing war materials that could later be turned against us or our allies.

Stuff it, libs, you don't know what you're talking about.

[Brooks]

I've been in awe of Rummy since his first news conference and have made sure to watch as many of them as I could. He's a Defense Secretary who understood the long tradition of leaders of warriors and his falling on his sword for the greater good of the men and women he led for six years only confirms that. We've lost a leader who understands what honor means and we're the better for his tenure and sadder that it's over.

[geo]

RULES OF DEBATE:
Is it just my impression or is name calling a primary sign of a small closed mind frantic to support a weak, even nonsensical position? How does that rule of debate go again? Oh yes: "if you can't attack the facts, attack the person".

Take that, you pinko commy liberal neocon nazi conservative socialist leftist rightist bra-burning wacko bible pounding fundamentalist baby-killing puppy-kicking kitten-drowners.

Now who dares confront me and assume all those labels, huh? If you disagree with me, you are all those things! And don't bother me with facts!

End result: I win!