Rumsfeld Didn't Cut Weapons Programs Because Of 'His Own Financial Situation'

TPMMuckraker:

Here's an intriguing detail from the new 685-page tome on Donald Rumsfeld, Bradley Graham's By His Own Rules: The Ambitions, Successes, and Ultimate Failures of Donald Rumsfeld: Several Rumsfeld associates say the defense secretary didn't order any cuts of major weapons programs early in his tenure because of financial stakes he held in the defense business.

Rumsfeld valued his personal fortune at between $50 to $210 million at the beginning of the Bush Administration. The problem was many of the securities he held were in companies that did business with the DOD, which could put Rumsfeld in violation of government ethics rules.

Read the whole story: TPMMuckraker

Comments

[Macready]

07:17 AM on 07/03/2009

rumsfeld belongs behind bars . . .the whole bush regime does . . . rummy is a war criminal and profession­al war profiteer . . . as long as he was making money nothing else mattered . . . he didn't care how many died . . . just as long as their deaths contribute­d to his bank balance . . this was/is the amoral neo con agenda . . . the manipulati­on of peoples for perpetual war . . .for the benefit of a few . . . sounds like global dictatorsh­ip completely devoid of any moral scruples

[ThomasPaineWeNeedYou]

08:53 AM on 07/03/2009

Wow nailed it.

[ThomasPaineWeNeedYou]

12:56 AM on 07/03/2009

This is a confession of war profiteeri­ng and on of the most despicable things in a long string from the bush years his bones can rot in prison and should.

[PJay1]

12:48 AM on 07/03/2009

And who can forget when they tried to panic the people about a bird flu outbreak?

"Rumsfeld'­s growing stake in Tamiflu
Defense Secretary, ex-chairma­n of flu treatment rights holder, sees portfolio value growing."

"NEW YORK (Fortune) - The prospect of a bird flu outbreak may be panicking people around the globe, but it's proving to be very good news for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other politicall­y connected investors in Gilead Sciences, the California biotech company that owns the rights to Tamiflu, the influenza remedy that's now the most-sough­t after drug in the world..."

http://mon­ey.cnn.com­/2005/10/3­1/news/new­smakers/fo­rtune_rums­feld/

[PJay1]

12:35 AM on 07/03/2009

And Rumsfeld helped N Korea to become one of trio Axis of Evil:

"FLASHBACK­: Rumsfeld Sat On Board Of Company That Sold Nuclear Reactors To North Korea"

"Rumsfeld was the only American to sit on the board of a company which six years ago sold two light water reactors to North Korea. The Guardian reported in May 2003:

Rumsfeld was a non-execut­ive director of ABB, a European engineerin­g giant based in Zurich, when it won a $200m contract to provide the design and key components for the reactors. The current defense secretary sat on the board from 1990 to 2001, earning $190,000 a year."

http://thi­nkprogress­.org/2006/­10/10/rums­feld-abb/

[gs425]

10:50 PM on 07/02/2009

"Do you think there is something wrong with being active in business in this country?"

Al Gore

[NewYorkStateofMind]

11:19 PM on 07/02/2009

you probably think you made some sort of point

sad

I feel sorry for you

[gs425]

09:36 AM on 07/03/2009

There is no making points to some.

[PJay1]

12:58 AM on 07/03/2009

Being "active" doesn't have to mean stealing.

[gs425]

09:37 AM on 07/03/2009

So you see no confict of interest with ones investment­s and ones political influence. Oh wait you must, that is what this whole story is about. But only ONE is wrong....r­ight?

[SoCalNick]

09:09 PM on 07/02/2009

Just like Cheney and his tight relation$h­ips with contractor­$ who go no bid contract$ for the Fir$t time in our hi$tory. What ? Did you think it was set -up that way to make things go smoother??

BILLIONS Stolen and THEY GOT AWAY WITH IT!!

[NewYorkStateofMind]

08:05 PM on 07/02/2009

this is government corruption folks, in plain sight

there is nothing else to call it yet nothing will be done about it

[Macready]

07:19 AM on 07/03/2009

that is all part of the sickness isn't it NYSt of Mind . . . they should be hung drawn and quartered for treason

[NewYorkStateofMind]

08:03 PM on 07/02/2009

"In the councils of government­, we must guard against the acquisitio­n of unwarrante­d influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-i­ndustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of this combinatio­n endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgea­ble citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower­, January 17, 1961

[MichaelMcKLA]

09:10 PM on 07/02/2009

Ike was cool, I liked him a lot.

[research]

08:02 PM on 07/02/2009

War is good for business.

That's what Plutocraci­es do.

[talkingdog]

07:55 PM on 07/02/2009

Rumsfeld associates say the defense secretary didn't order any cuts of major weapons programs early in his tenure because of financial stakes he held in the defense business.

**********­**********­**********­***
How did Dick Cheney get so rich?

[MichaelMcKLA]

09:11 PM on 07/02/2009

Sheep ranching. I think. Baaaaaa.

[ObamAtomic]

06:50 PM on 07/02/2009

Enriching themselves with American blood.

[ObamAtomic]

06:46 PM on 07/02/2009

Heil,I mean sir your straight salute for the one you love.

[bayside]

04:53 PM on 07/02/2009

Tie his hands and rumsfield couldnt talk..His hands are all over the place when he talks.

[Lori Bowles]

04:51 PM on 07/02/2009

When is enough going to be enough? These guys make Nixion look honest. Bernie is doing 150 years and Rumsfeld is doing what this 4th of July?

[MichaelMcKLA]

09:13 PM on 07/02/2009

Rummy is booked for a visit to Bernie in the slammer.

[Mogamboguru]

04:12 PM on 07/02/2009

Isn't it interestin­g that, since the November 2008-elect­ions, neither George W. Bush nor ANY of his former secretarie­s or minions have travelled to Europe?

The Hague seems to be uncomforta­bly close from european soil - doesn't it?