When Rummy tried to nuke Russia-He Always Tried To Unleash Maximum Nuclear Firepower

[kpete]

When Rummy tried to nuke Russia
In an excerpt from his new biography of the former secretary of defense, Andrew Cockburn explains how the true Donald Rumsfeld emerged during secret war games.

.......................

Herein lies an aspect of Rumsfeld's career -- and character -- that remained deeply buried even after word of his participation in the COG exercises leaked out. Faced with the most awesome choices a simulated environment could present, placed in a situation that was designed and advertised as a rehearsal for what might one day be terrifyingly real, Rumsfeld had one primary response. He always tried to unleash the maximum amount of nuclear firepower possible.

The teams taking part in the game were presented with two main tasks: reconstitution of some sort of working government, and retaliation against whomever had inflicted the disaster. The first of these, reconstruction, was generally considered the most urgent. But this part, according to fellow players, did not interest Rumsfeld. "He always wanted to move on to retaliation as quickly as possible," recalls a former senior official in the office of the secretary of defense, "he was one who always went for the extreme option."

A former participant, enlisted to take the role of a senior national security official, described how his "war" began with a limited Soviet attack in Europe. "It seemed quite possible to defuse the crisis," he recalled, stressing that the State Department "team," was working to avoid an all-out thermonuclear exchange. Rumsfeld, however, had a different agenda. From the outset, this participant remembers, the once and future defense secretary was determined to "launch everything we had left" at the entire communist bloc, Russians and Chinese together.

more at:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/02/26/rumsfeld/index1.html

[jimshoes]

1. Rummy is sort of a cross between

General Buck Turgidson, Dr. Strangelove and Vlad Dracula. Creep.

[fujiyama]

2. Don't forget

Skeletor from He-Man...

[jimshoes]

4. But of course

how could I forget Skeletor. :evilgrin:

[fujiyama]

21. First character I thought of when I saw him:

[bananarepublican]

3. Why does this certifiable nutcase still have a desk at the Pentagon? n/t

[name not needed]

5. He doesn't.

[bananarepublican]

8. Says who? n/t

[ghostsofgiants]

13. Says Rumsfeld.

He resigned back in December.

[name not needed]

14. Jesus Christ, did you get hit in the head with a Koala?

For fuck's sake, pull your dick out of the vegemite jar and read a newspaper for a change.

[jimshoes]

15. Pssst.

http://washtimes.com/national/20070208-121345-5680r.htm

Yes he does.

[ghostsofgiants]

16. Well I'll be damned.

[MrSlayer]

6. Fascinating.

That's a much cooler game than D&D. I'm really not surprised by Rumsfeld's play. He's as dangerous a motherfucker as anyone in the world.

[bananarepublican]

10. 'War games'! Neocon f-wits think of war as a game! "Move along. Nothing to see here." n/t

[MrSlayer]

12. I think they see it as a good way to plunder.

They know it's not a game, they just don't care.

[JackRiddler]

7. Revealing.

We know what a psycho he is. Mr. Maximum Response. Living out his fantasies in an echo chamber of his fellow Republicans. The Shadow Government. Self-appointed successors to the elected government. Now read the last paragraphs.

QUOTE

Insofar as the COG games gave the illusion of reality, they taught Rumsfeld and his fellow players some dangerous lessons, particularly when the fall of the Soviet Union induced some changes in the usual scenarios. Although the exercises continued, still budgeted at over $200 million a year in the Clinton era, the vanished Soviets were now customarily replaced by terrorists. The terrorism envisaged, however, was almost always state-sponsored. Terrorists were never autonomous, but invariably acted on behalf of a government. "That was the conventional wisdom," recalled retired air force colonel Sam Gardner, who has designed dozens of war games for the Pentagon and related entities. "Behind the terrorist, there was always something bigger, and the games reflected that."

There were other changes too. In earlier times the specialists selected to run the "shadow government" had been drawn from across the political spectrum, Democrats and Republicans alike. But now, down in the bunkers, Rumsfeld found himself in politically congenial company, the players' roster being filled almost exclusively with Republican hawks.

"It was one way for these people to stay in touch. They'd meet, do the exercise but also sit around and castigate the Clinton administration in the most extreme way," a former Pentagon official with direct knowledge of the phenomenon told me. "You could say this was a secret government-in-waiting. The Clinton administration was extraordinarily inattentive, no idea what was going on."

END QUOTE

Among other things it sounds like a great place to plan a coup... a global war... a 9/11?

[bananarepublican]

9. Insightful commentary. This is part of the bigger picture methinks. n/t

[HCE SuiGeneris]

11. And he was our chief military commander?

Holy fucking shit... :freak: :scared:

[sweetheart]

17. he's a collegiate wrestler

... enough said.

(for those who don't know... collegiate wrestling is *extremely* aggressive, with
the relentless pursuing of a take down as all-important... rummy's still in college
wrestling, just pretending the larger opponent works with the same moves.

... hang the bastard. (after a war crimes trial)

[WiseButAngrySara]

20. Interesting. Bet you're correct. ....n/t

[htuttle]

18. "Mr. President, I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed...."

"...But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops.

Uh, depending on the breaks."

[WiseButAngrySara]

19. Does he have a soul? ....n/t