\u201cWhen one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it,\u201d wrote Joseph Goebbels, Germany\u2019s Reich minister of propaganda, in 1941. Former Vice President Dick Cheney seems to have taken the famous Nazi\u2019s advice in his new book, \u201cIn My Time.\u201d Cheney remains staunch in his convictions on issues from the invasion of Iraq to the use of torture. Telling NBC News in an interview that \u201cthere are gonna be heads exploding all over Washington\u201d as a result of the revelations in the book, Cheney\u2019s memoir follows one by his colleague and friend Donald Rumsfeld. As each promotes his own version of history, there are people challenging and confronting them.<\/p>\n
Rumsfeld\u2019s book title, \u201cKnown and Unknown,\u201d is drawn from a notorious response he gave in one of his Pentagon press briefings as secretary of defense. In Feb. 12, 2002, attempting to explain the lack of evidence linking Iraq to weapons of mass destruction, Rumsfeld said: \u201c[T]here are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns\u2014the ones we don\u2019t know we don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rumsfeld\u2019s cryptic statement gained fame, emblematic of his disdain for reporters. It stands as a symbol of the lies and manipulations that propelled the U.S. into the disastrous invasion and occupation of Iraq.<\/p>\n
One person convinced by Rumsfeld\u2019s rhetoric was Jared August Hagemann.<\/p>\n
Hagemann enlisted in the Army to serve his country, to confront the threats repeated by Defense Secretary Rumsfeld. When the U.S. Army Ranger received the call for his most recent deployment (his wife can\u2019t recall if it was his seventh or eighth), the pressure became too much. On June 28, 2011, 25-year-old Hagemann shot himself on the Joint Base Lewis-McChord, near Seattle. The Pentagon notes that Hagemann died of a \u201cself-inflicted\u201d gunshot wound, but has not yet called it a suicide.<\/p>\n
Hagemann had threatened suicide several times before. He was not alone. Five soldiers reportedly committed suicide at Fort Lewis in July. It has been estimated that more than 300,000 returning troops suffer from PTSD or depression.<\/p>\n
Hagemann\u2019s widow, Ashley Joppa-Hagemann, found out that Rumsfeld was doing a book signing on the base. On Friday, Aug. 26, she handed Rumsfeld a copy of the program from her late husband\u2019s memorial service. She recounted, \u201cI told him that I wanted him to see my husband, and so he would know\u2014he could put a face with at least one of the soldiers that had lost their lives because of his lies from 9\/11.\u201d<\/p>\n
I asked her about Rumsfeld\u2019s response: \u201cAll I remember is him saying, \u2018Oh, I heard about that.\u2019 And after that, all I remember is being bombarded with security personnel and being pushed out and told not to return.\u201d Unfortunately, it\u2019s Staff Sgt. Hagemann who will never return to his wife and two little children.<\/p>\n
In his NBC interview, Cheney claimed to have played a role in the January 2005 resignation of then-Secretary of State Colin Powell. Powell\u2019s former chief of staff, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, called the claim \u201cutter nonsense.\u201d More important, though, is Wilkerson\u2019s unflinching call for accountability for those involved in leading the nation to war in Iraq\u2014including punishment for himself. A central pillar of the invasion of Iraq was Powell\u2019s Feb. 5, 2003, speech before the United Nations, which laid out the case of weapons of mass destruction. Wilkerson, who takes full responsibility for coordinating Powell\u2019s address, told me: \u201cIt was probably the biggest mistake of my life. I regret it to this day. I regret not having resigned over it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Center for Constitutional Rights and lawyer\/blogger Glenn Greenwald are among those who have long called for criminal prosecution of Cheney, Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials. Said Wilkerson, \u201cI\u2019d be willing to testify, and I\u2019d be willing to take any punishment I\u2019m due.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilkerson says Cheney\u2019s book is \u201cwritten out of fear, fear that one day someone will \u2018Pinochet\u2019 Dick Cheney,\u201d referring to the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who was arrested in Britain and held for a year before being released. A Spanish judge had wanted him extradited to be tried for crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n
As we approach the 10th anniversary of 9\/11, and the casualties mount on all sides, the books by Rumsfeld and Cheney remind us once again of war\u2019s first casualty: truth.<\/p>\n
________________________<\/em><\/p>\n Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.<\/em><\/p>\n Amy Goodman is the host of \u201cDemocracy Now!,\u201d a daily international TV\/radio news hour airing on more than 900 stations in North America. She is the author of \u201cBreaking the Sound Barrier,\u201d recently released in paperback and now a New York Times best-seller.<\/em><\/p>\n