# Rumsfeld Godwinizes the Anti-War Debate **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 19, 2006, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992 "2006-03-19T12:38:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/41 "2006-03-20T05:17:53Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > I don’t object to Rummy’s use of postwar Germany. What I don’t quite understand is the use of the word “postwar” in reference to Iraq, since we are clearly still in the middle of a honest to goodness war. Or does Rummy not know that? Ah, I see. Whatever is going on over there now, I guess they’ve decided it’s not “the war.” ---
**Author:** ![ArrMatey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrmatey/32/3522_2.png) [@ArrMatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArrMatey)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/42 "2006-03-20T15:16:35Z")
Wait… Post war? Post… War? So we’re not at war now? Doesn’t that mean we’re not staying the course anymore? (Sorry, couldn’t resist. ‘Staying the course’, as a reason to keep at the war, has been my bane for the past couple of years.) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/43 "2006-03-20T15:25:52Z")
The way I parse Rummy’s “post-war” characterization, we must be post-war _vis à vis_ Operation Iraqi Freedom, because the Iraq Civil War has not started yet. That means we are actually “pre-war”, therefore the other war must be over, because we obviously can’t be in two wars in the same country with the same rejectionists, Saddamists and terrorists, right? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/44 "2006-03-20T15:59:03Z")
You mean, like if a terrist steps into a time machine and kills your grandfather? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/45 "2006-03-20T16:32:31Z")
Well, we’re post-war in the sense that Sadaam has been removed from power and a democratically elected governement has been installed in Iraq. We’re not at war with Iraq anymore. They’re our allies. We’re helping them put down an insurgency. So this isn’t a war, it’s a pacification. ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/46 "2006-03-20T16:44:54Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek] Just because both Hitler and Bush listen to former pilots/QUOTE] Hitler wasn’t a pilot. Though he probably put on a flight suit every now and then to declare “Mission Accomplished.” ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/47 "2006-03-20T16:50:40Z")
Hmm, I am trying to think of an administration that uses propoganda, lies, blames a certain religious group for the ills of the country and starts a war? Nothing comes to mind at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/48 "2006-03-20T17:08:46Z")
[QUOTE=5que] > [@Merijeek](#): > > Just because both Hitler and Bush listen to former pilots/QUOTE] > Hitler wasn’t a pilot. > > Though he probably put on a flight suit every now and then to declare “Mission Accomplished.” But Mussolini was a pilot. And Hitler occassionally listened to him. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/49 "2006-03-20T17:15:05Z")
The pilot referred to in the earlier comment was probably Goering. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/50 "2006-03-20T17:19:43Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > … a democratically elected governement has been installed in Iraq. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. An interim, caretaker government is in place. A roster for a real cabinet has just now been submitted for approval by the legislature. The interim government seems to be singularly ineffective so far. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/51 "2006-03-20T17:30:19Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > The pilot referred to in the earlier comment was probably Goering. Who is _not_ to be confused with the popular Indonesian rice dish, [Nasi Goreng](http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/~dwa/Receipe.html). That’s spelled with an ‘ **s** ’. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/52 "2006-03-20T17:42:47Z")
Okay, I’m stumped. Who’s the former pilot Bush listens to? Not his father, we know that. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/53 "2006-03-20T17:46:38Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Okay, I’m stumped. Who’s the former pilot Bush listens to? Not his father, we know that. Rove liked to play with toy airplanes as a kid. But his mother made him file down all the sharp edges so he wouldn’t hurt himself. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/54 "2006-03-20T18:18:28Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Okay, I’m stumped. Who’s the former pilot Bush listens to? Not his father, we know that. Rumsfeld. He was a pilot in the Navy from 1954-57, and then a pilot and instructor in the Reserves until 1975. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/55 "2006-03-20T22:18:52Z")
[QUOTE=5que] > [@Merijeek](#): > > Just because both Hitler and Bush listen to former pilots/QUOTE] > Hitler wasn’t a pilot. > > Though he probably put on a flight suit every now and then to declare “Mission Accomplished.” As cleared up by others, the pilots I was referring to were Rumsfeld and Goering. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992/56 "2006-03-21T01:59:12Z")
> [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > Hmm, I am trying to think of an administration that uses propoganda, lies, blames a certain religious group for the ills of the country and starts a war? > > Nothing comes to mind at the moment. Imperial Rome? 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rumsfeld-godwinizes-the-anti-war-debate/348992.md?page=2)