Former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld has always answered his detractors by claiming that history will one day judge him kindly. But as he waits for that day, a new group of critics-his administration peers-are suddenly speaking out for the first time. What they’re saying? It isn’t pretty By Robert Draper on the morning of Thursday, April 10, 2003, Donald Rumsfeld’s Pentagon prepared a top-secret briefing for George W. Bush. This document, known as the Worldwide Intelligence Update, was a daily digest of critical military intelligence so classified that it circulated among only a handful of Pentagon leaders and the president; Rumsfeld himself often delivered it, by hand, to the White House. The briefing’s cover sheet generally featured triumphant, color images from the previous days’ war efforts: On this particular morning, it showed the statue of Saddam Hussein being pulled down in Firdos Square, a grateful Iraqi child kissing an American soldier, and jubilant crowds thronging the streets of newly liberated Baghdad. And above these images, and just below the headline secretary of defense, was a quote that may have raised some eyebrows. It came from the Bible, from the book of Psalms: ‘Behold, the eye of the Lord is […]
Wednesday, May 27th, 2009
And He Shall be Judged
Stephan: The more that comes out, and the more Dick Cheney talks, you realize the true nature of the men who ran this country for eight years. These guys sound like the old man down the street whom everyone avoids because he's a wackjob, and a little scary.
GQ correspondent robert draper is the author of Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush.