Rumsfeld: Intel Suggested Bin Laden’s Death Would Spark ‘Violent Attack On America’

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld appeared on The Today Show this morning and told Matt Lauer that he was proud of the efforts by both President Bush and President Obama to help make Osama bin Laden’s death possible, and that he was impressed by the spontaneous celebration of Americans across the country. However, he also delivered an uncomfortably blunt warning about what might be expected to come next.

Rumsfeld trumpeted the importance of gathering intelligence and, potentially familiar with some information provided at a White House briefing, stated the crucial details that led to bin Laden’s demise “may very well have been partly a result of some of the interviews that took place at Guantanomo Bay, Cuba.” Rumsfeld also warned that bin Laden will be replaced, and he revealed:

“There has been intelligence that suggested that if Osama bin Laden were ever captured or killed that there would be a violent attack on America or Europe, in one way or another.”

Whether one thinks such a statement is an unnecessary scare, given that Rumsfeld no longer actively serves in government and doesn’t tend to sugarcoat matters regardless, his freedom to speak about intelligence he was previously exposed to provides us with a sobering assessment of the circumstances. And it certainly suggests that the federal government will be extra vigilant in the coming days.

Watch the clip from NBC below:

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