Donald Rumsfeld has died and people are sharing his infamous torture memo

Donald Rumsfeld, former U.S. Secretary of Defence for Presidents Gerald R. Ford and George W. Bush, has passed away at 88 years old.

“It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of Donald Rumsfeld, an American statesman and devoted husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather,” a statement from his family read. “At 88, he was surrounded by family in his beloved Taos, New Mexico.”

Rumsfeld is and was an extremely controversial political figure. Rumsfeld oversaw the White House response to the Twin Tower attacks on September 11, 2001, directing a U.S. military attack on Afghanistan, and two years later led the invasion of Iraq, for which he was criticised.

Rumsfeld was forced to resigned in 2004 upon the release of photos of U.S. soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners, portraying the “aggressive interrogation” tactics for which he and other U.S. officials were personally responsible.

“The abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib in late 2003 was not simply the result of a few soldiers acting on their own,” said a report conducted by the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“Interrogation techniques such as stripping detainees of their clothes, placing them in stress positions and using military working dogs to intimidate them appeared in Iraq only after they had been approved for use in Afghanistan and at (Guantanamo).”

The “torture memos” approving — and encouraging — the aforementioned behaviours and all forms of “enhanced” interrogation techniques (read: torment) came to light in 2004, when documents signed by Rumsfeld himself were released to the public. Now, upon Rumsfeld’s death, Twitter users are sharing the “torture memos” in memoriam.