Rumsfeld, cocksure architect of Iraq war, dead at 88

Donald Rumsfeld, the cocksure and unrepentant defense secretary who led the United States into war in Iraq and Afghanistan, has died, his family announced on June 30. He was 88.

In charge of the U.S. military for most of George W. Bush's presidency, Rumsfeld was stubborn and brash, famously dismissing widespread looting after U.S. troops captured Baghdad by quipping, "Stuff happens."

For millions who took to the streets to denounce the war in Iraq, Rumsfeld and vice president Dick Cheney were emblematic of what was seen as excesses in Bush's "war on terror," including the indefinite detention of suspects in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the abuse of Iraqis by U.S. jailers at Abu Ghraib prison.

The former congressman's brand of hawkish politics eventually fell from favor as politicians from both sides turned on "forever wars," and the troops he first sent to Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks will make their final withdrawal weeks after his death.

His family said that Rumsfeld - who after resigning in 2006 not only spent years defending his legacy but also dabbling in software and even releasing a solitaire app - died in Taos, New Mexico, and described "the integrity he brought to a life dedicated to the country."
Bush called his defense secretary, whom he defiantly kept in his cabinet until rival Democrats won control of Congress in 2006, "an exemplary public servant and a very good man."
"He was a faithful steward of our armed forces, and the United States of America is safer and better off for his service," Bush said, without directly mentioning the decision to invade Iraq.

Rumsfeld had clamored to remove Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, pushing soon after the fall of Afghanistan's Taliban to move...