[Cue Twilight Zone Music] Rumsfeld Says It Is Not A War On Terror

Excuse me?

I want to drive to Washington, shove Rumsfeld into the back of my Suzuki Sidekick, and let him out in front of a lot of military families and Iraqis who might have some questions to ask him based on this statement (link from Think Progress).

In a new interview posted on Townhall.com, conservative columnist Cal Thomas asks outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, “With what you know now, what might you have done differently in Iraq?” Rumsfeld offers a remarkable response:

I don’t think I would have called it the war on terror. I don’t mean to be critical of those who have. Certainly, I have used the phrase frequently. Why do I say that? Because the word ‘war’ conjures up World War II more than it does the Cold War. It creates a level of expectation of victory and an ending within 30 or 60 minutes of a soap opera. It isn’t going to happen that way. Furthermore, it is not a ‘war on terror.’ Terror is a weapon of choice for extremists who are trying to destabilize regimes and (through) a small group of clerics, impose their dark vision on all the people they can control. So ‘war on terror’ is a problem for me.

Rumsfeld not only used the phrase ‘war on the terror’; he repeatedly criticized anyone who questioned the validity of it.

Emphasis (along with the profanity I just shouted that sent the dogs running from the house and the toe I just about broke kicking the cast iron woodstove) mine.