"You get a lot more with a kind word and a gun than you do with a kind word alone." Donald Rumsfeld readily quotes Al Capone to air his views on international diplomacy. As US troops unleash military force in the Gulf, it appears that, for the US Secretary of Defense, the time for kind words is well and truly past.
All-American heroics
Rumsfeld has made it patently clear, offensively so in some European circles, that America is prepared to "go it alone", but he is, after all, a confirmed man of action. A former naval pilot, a veteran of motorbike races and parachute jumps, he even affirmed when he took the job that "weakness is provocative".
These all-American heroics are balanced by a canny business head. Chicago-born and Princeton-educated, Rumsfeld made several fortunes, during 23 years in the private sector. He appears a technocrat turned recent public servant, but, for four decades, has actually had a finger very much in the political pie.
Youthful success
Four times a congressman, Rumsfeld's hard right voting record in the House established his conservative credentials. He was Richard Nixon's ambassador to Nato, Gerald Ford's chief of staff and the youngest ever US defence secretary in 1975. And during Bill Clinton's administration, he headed a commission to investigate the threat to America of ballistic missiles.
Rumsfeld's final report highlighted the "huge terrorist risk from rogue nations" and emphasised the need for a national missile defence system. This hard-line stance made him an appealing colleague for the incoming Bush, but his innovative approach to strategy has since ruffled feathers in the Pentagon.
Strengthened resolve
The US military has long prepared for a war against an enemy of its own strength and standing. Now Rumsfeld wants to transform his department into smaller, more flexible units, equipped to challenge the more varied and unfamiliar threats that America now faces.
The events of 11 September no doubt strengthened the defense secretary's resolve. At his desk in the Pentagon that morning, Rumsfeld was the only member of Bush's senior team to be in a building that was actually hit.
This mettle will continue to be tested in the weeks ahead. But as his troops move to meet Saddam in the desert, Rumsfeld's opponents, on home and foreign soil, should heed the words of another canny operator. It was Henry Kissinger who said, "Of all the despots I've had to deal with, none was more ruthless than Donald Rumsfeld."
Caroline Frost
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