Former US Defense Secretary Rumsfeld, Who Led Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, Passes Away

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] Donald Rumsfeld, who served as the U.S. Secretary of Defense during President George W. Bush's administration and led the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War, has passed away at the age of 88.

On the 30th (local time), according to The New York Times (NYT) and The Washington Post (WP), Rumsfeld's family released a statement announcing his death. The cause of death was multiple myeloma.

In the statement, the family said, "We will remember his unwavering love for his wife, family, and friends, and the sincerity of his life dedicated to the country."

Rumsfeld was previously appointed as the youngest Secretary of Defense in history at the age of 43 during the Gerald Ford administration in 1975.

He later joined the Bush administration in 2001 as Secretary of Defense. Rumsfeld was a close aide to then-powerful Vice President and hawk Dick Cheney, contributing to the design of a hardline defense policy alongside Cheney.

Classified as a hawkish hardliner, Rumsfeld is well known as the U.S. Secretary of Defense who led the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War. Bloomberg News reported that "(Rumsfeld) led two of the longest wars in U.S. history."

The NYT also evaluated him as "the most powerful and influential Secretary of Defense since Robert McNamara during the Vietnam War."

The Iraq War he led is one of the most controversial wars fought since World War II.

The Iraq War, launched in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, began based on intelligence that then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. However, the absence of such weapons severely damaged the credibility of the U.S. government and the Department of Defense.

Additionally, the exposure of human rights abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq caused significant repercussions, leading to a rise in anti-war sentiment within American society.

In the early stages of the Iraq War, U.S. forces quickly took control of the Hussein regime, but prolonged clashes with insurgents resulted in over 4,400 U.S. military deaths.

As controversy over the Iraq War grew, six retired generals demanded Rumsfeld's resignation in 2006. Following the midterm elections that year, in which the Bush administration lost control of both the House and Senate to the opposition, Rumsfeld was dismissed at the end of 2006.

After retiring, Rumsfeld stated in his 2011 autobiography that he had no regrets about the Iraq War, arguing that "the removal of the Hussein regime made the world more stable and secure."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.