Rumsfeld's End ?

It was a last ditch PR ploy, but Rumsfeld’s testimony may not save his job. The man squirmed on the spot as he faced difficult questions from the press corps. Gone was the swagger that framed his briefings at the height of ‘Shock and Awe’. Now called Torture-gate, the credibility of the US is below rock bottom. Any lingering gratitude over taking down Saddam Hussein has been all but eliminated by the American torture and abuse of detainees in the same prison where Saddam committed unspeakable crimes against political enemies.

Rumsfeld’s grip on his job as President Bush’s chief prosecutor of the war on terror remains tenuous. It strikes me that he’s a deserving fall-guy. But even if he was to go, it would make little impact around the globe. This is meltdown and I can’t think of a spin master alive who could turn the tide.

US arrogance remains intact and the men in suits are bracing themselves for the next issue of images. The digital age and time compressed globe will breed a faster and wiser PR operator in the future. The lessons of Torture-gate will never be forgotten.