Rumsfeld calls Afghanistan a 'big success'

September 10, 2007 In Donald Rumsfeld's first interview since leaving the Pentagon, he hailed the efforts in Afghanistan as a "big success", but attributed the failures in Iraq to the Iraqi's government inability to build a foundation of democracy.

"In Afghanistan, 28 million people are free. They have their own president, they have their own parliament and they've improved a lot on the streets," Rumsfeld says in the October issue of GQ magazine. But he stated that reaching a similar situation in Iraq would take "some time and some effort".

Rumsfeld also defended President Bush, saying " [Bush] is a lot more intelligent and curious than people give him credit for."