To no one’s surprise, he staunchly defends the treatment of terror suspects. One of his “biggest disappointments,” Rumsfeld writes, was his inability “to help persuade America and the world of the truth about Gitmo: The most heavily scrutinized detention facility in the world was also one of the most professionally run in history.” He flatly rejects “irresponsible charges” to the contrary by human rights groups, editorial pages and “most shamefully,” members of Congress.

While Rumsfeld opposed waterboarding by military personnel, he saw “no contradiction” in arguing that it was an appropriate technique for the CIA to use against key suspects. He approved other interrogation methods for DOD, scrawling on one memo: “However, I stand for 8-10 hours a day. Why is standing limited to 4 hours?” That was a “mistake,” he writes, but not a signal “that it would be okay to stretch the rules.”

One sentence seems to sum up the Rummy attitude: “Never much of a handwringer, I don’t spend a lot of time in recriminations, looking back or second-guessing decisions made in real time with imperfect information by myself or others.” That is clear when he touches on what is widely regarded as a strategic blunder, the failure to put more boots on the ground early in the Iraq invasion. “More troops do not necessarily mean a greater chance for success,” he writes.