Rumsfeld: If Gadhafi Stays, U.S. Reputation Damaged, American Enemies Emboldened

WASHINGTON, March 27, 2011— -- Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said today that if Gadhafi remains in power in Libya, it will damage the prestige of the United States. He compared the possible scenario of Gadhafi staying in power in Tripoli to the U.S. and coalition forces not removing Saddam Hussein during the 1991 Gulf War, though he refused to take a firm stand on whether U.S. military action in Libya was the correct move for the Obama administration.

In an exclusive interview on "This Week" with ABC News' Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper, Rumsfeld said, "the fact is we are involved" in Libya. "And the prestige of the United States is involved."

"Think back to the Gulf War in the early 1990s," said Rumsfeld, who served as George W. Bush's defense secretary from 2001-2006. "Saddam Hussein, when it was over, said he had fought the mother of all battles and President George Herbert Walker Bush was gone, Margaret Thatcher was gone, and he was still in office. And the implication of that was that he had defeated the United States," he said.

"We are involved," Rumsfeld said from Pensacola, Florida. "Let there be no question: we're now involved in Libya. And if Gadhafi stays on, he will feel he has fought the mother of all battles against the United States and it will be damaging to us just as our demeanor in Somalia was damaging, the situation in Lebanon was damaging and that will embolden others of his ilk," he told Tapper.

He also explained that the question of Gadhafi's longevity as leader of Libya had rippling effects."If you put yourself in the shoes of the rebels," he said, "they wonder whether or not the coalition has an interest in Gadhafi leaving. There's a great deal of ambiguity about that."

"Gadhafi's forces wonder whether Gadhafi will be leaving – and that same ambiguity affects their decision-making," he said. "Until that's clarified, it seems to me, we'll have a much more difficult time. I think the goal has to be that Gadhafi leaves.