Rumsfeld: "Perception of U.S. weakness is provocative"

In his farewell speech, Donald Rumsfeld warns that "perception of U.S. weakness is provocative:"

"Today, it should be clear that not only is weakness provocative," Mr. Rumsfeld said, standing at a lectern with President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney as his side, "but the perception of weakness on our part can be provocative as well."

As Bill Clinton would say: It all depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is.

Is a nation that spends roughly half a TRILLION a year on defense, more than all other nations combined, perceived as weak? And, if so, by whom?

Or, is the presence on foreign soil of a nation with overwhelming military power viewed as provocative?

The correct answer to that question has been missed by the Cheney-Bush-neocon administration all along as it embarked on an unprovoked war on Iraq designed to restructure the whole Middle East in its image.

Had the Administration focused its attention intently on Afghanistan where the culprits of 9/11 resided, the result would have been, most likely, a picture of progress that the world would have embraced and would have made Americans proud.

But, that was not to be. Instead, hawkish ideologues in the U.S. and Israel known as "neoconservatives" were embraced by Cheney-Bush and the world looked on in horror as thousands of bombs and missiles were dropped on Baghdad in an unprovoked assault designed to "shock and awe" the world:

"Present in the crowd were some of the former hawks with whom he planned the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq: Paul D. Wolfowitz, his former deputy, and Douglas J. Feith, his under secretary for defense policy. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, his frequent rival in Mr. Bush's cabinet, did not attend."

Admittedly they did achieve their objective in that the world was indeed SHOCKED and the goodwill shown toward the U.S. evaporated almost instantly.

That everything went down hill from there has been widely documented. Rumsfeld was "correct" as it proved that "weakness is provocative," given that action/inaction in Iraq painted just such a picture of weakness.

The Cheney-Bush administration will go down in history as the most incompetent in modern times given that, had it restricted its efforts to Afghanistan, it could have shown the world what the U.S. can achieve with the cooperation of the global community.

That it chose Baghdad as "the route that leades to Jerusalem" when the opposite is true, is a tragedy of enormous proportions.

And, finally, to add insult to injury, the following words from Dick Cheney during the farewell ceremony:

"Mr. Cheney's declaration that "Don Rumsfeld is the finest secretary of defense the nation has ever had," was more in keeping with the event."

One can only wonder which planet these individuals inhabit. It surely is not planet Earth