Donald Rumsfeld finally broke his silence today following his departure as US secretary of state for defence. here is his statement in full:
"Ladies and gentlemen, the war making upon which the Iraq insurgents is something that we as an administration could neither accept or understand to condone, in which ever way we believe that such a strategy may actually benefit the cause of the war on terror that the president has set upon this course to change the direction of the whole world and bring about justice and democracy wherever he may find it.
"Be that as it may I have with the president decided that the time for a decision has come and therefore decided that the decision as a decision that if undecided would lead to indecision and therefore I decided to decide upon my decision and have decided thus.
"I fully support the president in his decision, and make no mistake it was decided upon upon the basis of that which we knew might actually be the decision that was required to be taken in a decisive manner. Furthermore I wish my successor success in his endeavour regardless of whether I remember his name or not"
Mr Rumsfeld did not take questions.
