Donald Rumsfeld: Obama Has Failed To Justify Intervening In Syria

Former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld speaks to politicians and academics during a luncheon on security in rising Asia in Taipei, Taiwan, Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2011. (AP Photo/Wally Santana)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who helped sell Congress and the American people on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan under former President George W. Bush, believes the Obama administration has failed to justify any potential military intervention in Syria.

“One thing that is very interesting, it seems to me, is that there really hasn’t been any indication from the administration as to what our national interest is with respect to this particular situation,” Rumsfeld said in an interview with Fox News’s Neil Cavuto scheduled to air later Wednesday, as quoted by The Hill.

White House press secretary Jay Carney pressed the administration’s argument earlier this week, telling reporters that failing to respond to a reported chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime in Syria would pose a “significant” threat to U.S. national security.

Rumsfeld made news in June when he told a conservative gathering that he was unsure if President Barack Obama had switched sides in the War on Terror.

“You know, I just don’t feel competent to answer,” he told a questioner. “I can’t tell.” 

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: