Rumsfeld led ‘very weak Bush’ into battle

A FORMER US diplomat who resigned over the Iraq war yesterday described US President George W Bush as a “very weak” man led by the hand into battle by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Brady Kiesling, who was political counsellor at the US embassy in Athens at the time of his resignation in February, said in an open letter published by Greek daily To Vima that Mr Rumsfeld exploited the war to increase his own power.

Mr Kiesling whose warning that US aims in Iraq were "incompatible with American values" struck a chord with the predominantly anti-war Greeks described Mr Bush as "a politician who badly wants to appear strong but in reality is very weak."