Rumsfeld's other crime

We know about Donald Rumsfeld's war crimes. He was instrumental in the Bush administration's lies that led us into an unnecessary war of choice against Iraq, which had previously posed no threat to us. And he authorized the use of torture, in violation of the Geneva Conventions.

But, as it turns out, that is not where Rumsfeld's sins against humanity began. Way back during the Reagan administration, Rumsfeld -- a former CEO of Searle Laboratories, which developed the artificial sweetener aspartame (NutraSweet) -- deliberately appointed an FDA commissioner whom he knew would approve NutraSweet for the U.S. market. This is after sixteen years in which the FDA had refused to approve NutraSweet due to evidence of dangers associated with its use, including links to brain cancer and eye diseases.

Just as Rumsfeld lied to justify an attack on an unarmed nation, and just as Rumsfeld went out of his way to make sure that we tortured our prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan, and at Gitmo, he also went out of his way to ensure profits for his colleagues at Searle, no matter what the risks to the American consumer.

Does the man have no conscience?

How can he sleep at night?

Thanks to Thom Hartmann for alerting me to this issue via a recent edition of his radio show on Air America.