CPAC To Honor War Criminal Rumsfeld

At this weekend's CPAC 2011 conference former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will be presented with their "Defender Of The Constitution" award. Irony, the wingnuts know you not.

Rumsfeld, who was Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2006, oversaw the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. He was replaced by current Defense secretary Robert Gates after a number of generals called for his resignation. In 2005, he was sued by the American Civil Liberties Union for authorizing the torture and abuse of detainees at facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan. The ACLU claimed that the Constitution prohibited the Secretary of Defense from adopting or permitting policies of cruelty against civilians in US military custody, but Rumsfeld claimed he could not be held legally liable for the torture.

Rumsfeld has had to cut short trips to France and Germany over fears that local authorities were about to arrest him for war crimes. He's a defender! Of the Constitution!