Rumsfeld and the Realists - Consistency is irrelevant to progressives.

Opinion Journal ^ | 11/13/06 | Michael Rubin

[Fury]

Consistency is irrelevant to progressives.

Monday, November 13, 2006 12:01 a.m.

On Dec. 20, 1983, Donald Rumsfeld, then Ronald Reagan's Middle East envoy, met Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. According to declassified documents, the Reagan administration sought to re-establish long-severed relations with Baghdad amid concern about growing Iranian influence. While U.S. intelligence had earlier confirmed Saddam's use of chemical weapons, Mr. Rumsfeld did not broach the subject. His handshake with Saddam, caught on film by Iraqi television, represented a triumph for diplomatic realism.

[Fury]

An outstanding read...

[Matchett-PI]

bttt

[Dilbert56]

Henry Kissinger best summed up the Reagan Adminstration's view of thr Iran-Iraq War - "too bad they can't both lose". Actually, by preventing the balance of power from shifting too much in either party's favor, we made sure they both did.

I've read that the Reagan Administration told Saddam that we would like to help them against Iran but his use of chemical weapons was making that politically impossible. Not sure if Mr. Rumsfeld delivered that message along with that handshake but it seems rather petty to criticize him for the contents of the message he delivered.

[moonhawk]

BTTT