Rumsfeld: Russia deals with terrorist states

Donald Rumsfeld uttered the most direct broadside to Moscow during a press briefing yesterday (Thursday), when he criticised Moscow’s policy to deal with Iraq. Rumsfeld’s usage of economic arguments to coerce states to follow Washington’s orders are well known.

“To the extent that Russia decides that it wants to parade its relationships with countries like Iraq and Libya and Syria and Cuba and North Korea, it sends a signal out across the globe that that is what Russia thinks is a good thing to do, to deal with terrorist states”, said Rumsfeld, referring to the trade deal soon to be signed between Moscow and Baghdad to upgrade transport, energy and communications systems.

The Rumsfeld logic followed shortly afterwards: this decision will be detrimental to Russia “because people all across the globe, business people, can make a decision: Where do they want to put a plant? Where do they want to invest? Where do they want to have a relationship?”

This is a clear insinuation that Mr. Rumsfeld views Russian trading ties with Iran, Iraq and North Korea, with extreme suspicion and it is clear that in linking the issue of investment, the US Defence Secretary is making a none-too-veiled threat that contracts walk hand in hand with obeying what Washington requests, blindly.

That an official with the position of Donald Rumsfeld can make remarks such as “deal with terrorist states” applied to Moscow’s trading policy, is utterly astonishing because it demonstrates such a basic level of ignorance and ineptitude for high office that one questions whether or not he has all his mental faculties.

With the defeat of the regime of the world’s only “terrorist state” by definition, that of the Taleban in Afghanistan, the US Defence Secretary, in claiming that Syria, Cuba, Iraq and North Korea are terrorist states, not only lays himself open to ridicule but also speaks against the US companies and organisations which deal in these countries, accusing at the same time his own country, by implication, of dealing with terrorist states.

The utterances of Donald Rumsfeld are becoming more and more shrill of late and upon careful inspection, more and more incoherent. It is totally unacceptable that an official of his rank should make such accusations and threats and not be forced to retract, or better still, retire.

Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru