Donald Rumsfeld, who as George W. Bush's defense secretary was not so much the architect of the Iraq War as its fingerpainter, is dead at 88.
On the heels of the September 11 attacks, Rumsfeld directed a U.S. military attack on Afghanistan that led to the toppling of the Taliban. Two years later, Rumsfeld oversaw the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a move aimed at removing then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Rumsfeld, who initially earned praise for leading America's military into conflict, was later criticized as the nation grew war-weary of the Iraq War. In 2004, Rumsfeld was blamed after photographs of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners detained at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad emerged. Rumsfeld resigned as Secretary of Defense in 2006 and was replaced with Robert Gates.
