Rumsfeld on looting in Iraq: 'Stuff happens' 12 April 2003

[Lori Price CLG]

Rumsfeld on looting in Iraq: 'Stuff happens' --Varying views of the Bush regime on looting, compiled by Lori Price

"While no one condones looting, on the other hand, one can understand the pent-up feelings that may result from decades of repression."--Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, quoted by UPI, explaining why some Iraqi's resorted to looting during the Iraq war in 2003.

Rumsfeld on looting in Iraq: 'Stuff happens' 12 Apr 2003 Declaring that freedom is "untidy," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Friday the looting in Iraq was a result of "pent-up feelings" of oppression and that it would subside as Iraqis adjusted to life without Saddam Hussein. He also asserted the looting was not as bad as some television and newspaper reports have indicated and said there was no major crisis in Baghdad, the capital city, which lacks a central governing authority. The looting, he suggested, was "part of the price" for what the United States and Britain have called the liberation of Iraq. "Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things," Rumsfeld said. Looting, he added, was not uncommon for countries that experience significant social upheaval. "Stuff happens," Rumsfeld said.

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