Rumsfeld's "Known and Unknown": An Interventionist, Neocon Manifesto

Unlike other neoconservatives in the Bush administration, Rumsfeld says he rejects a Wilsonian foreign policy of exporting democracy and building nations in accordance with egalitarian ideals. He does not seem to believe that there is any inherent benefit to democracy over other forms of government, and rejects the notion that democracies are more conducive to a peaceful world. To the contrary, he says the Iraq war was purely for the purpose of defending national security, despite the evidence that Saddam Hussein posed no imminent threat to American or global security, and that the destabilization of Iraq emboldened a more heinous, destructive, and malignant force with nuclear capabilities — Iran.

Rumsfeld also goes on to discuss his use of egregiously unconstitutional tactics in “homeland security” — most notably roving wiretaps, and other forms of search and seizure in violation of the First and Fourth Amendments — as provisions of the Patriot Act, believing that its provisions are necessary for the upkeep of national security. He ignores Thomas Jefferson’s warning that those who sacrifice liberty for the sake of security “deserve neither.” This is unsurprising, given his proud acceptance of the “Defender of the Constitution Award,” presented to him at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).