Rumsfeld stepping down is a calculated move...and may be a smart one

November 8th, 2006 | Ice Flyer

[txrangerette]

Taft etc had much to do with destroying Ohio Republicanism. More than any outsider. Cong. Tom Reynolds pointed out to reporters today that with all the fear of losing House seats in Ohio, in the end only the Bob Ney scandalized seat went down. Even Deborah Price survived and they were scared to death she would lose. So keeping all but that one seat was one bright spot. Talking statewide, however, a different story...

[Paloma_55]

I am one of those conservatives that was tempted to sit this one out, but instead, voted and left out the RINOs from my ticket. Voted for McClintock, did not vote for Arnold.

If McCain is the Repub nominee in 2008, I will not vote for him. PERIOD.

[Rockingham]

An energetic grass roots effort to block amnesty and require enforcement is the best hope for a Republican renewal. Make Bush and the Democratic Congress the target, with the Democrats having to bear his unpopularity.

[photodawg]

Rummy was the best. This whole mess didn't really depress me until i saw that he'd been thrown overboard. The day after the election too! No guts, no class, no nothing.



'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

This smells like a capitulation to the anti war mood of the electorate. The replacement, Gates, is part of Baker commission rumored to be ready to redeploy troops and negotiate with Syria and Iran in Iraq. This is surrender from all sides. Surrender to the dems, the media, the cowardice of the American electorate, and most disgusting of all surrender to islam. I am angered and disgusted.

[photodawg]

?). I also have a hard time justifying his "you go to war with the Army you have" comment to a soldier who just wants a bit of scrap armor to protect him and his buddies from battlefield IEDs. I give him credit for re-building the military he got from the Clintons
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

You are nit picking . The casualty rate in this war was very low, and the death rate even lower. Many soldiers didn't even like the "new" body amour saying it was too heavy and cumbersome. None of what you say amounts to a mountain of evidence but more a molehill of carping triviality. the islamists will no doubt be emboldened by the dem victory and our subsequent surrender and your two cents worth of criticism helped to support the enemies within this country to sell the American people a bill of goods that will hasten America's defeat. I will support The president's right to make this change and the democrat's right to implement their new mandate, but part of the reason we are in this situation is too many of us think we can do a better job than the guy with the power, and all the facts at his disposal. Its really a chain of command issue in wartime not a democratic one .

[photodawg]

Was it really a war? Or a sitting-duck occupation force? A war we would win. This became a political occupation, VERY unfair to our military. Like Viet Nam, once it became political, they really weren't allowed to "fight"...just TAKE IT.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Look, Iraq is just one battle in a greater war. The president had the facts and the power. He saw things we weren't privy to. We should stand behind his willingness to take on the enemy as he sees fit. The troops supported him and fought under the rules of engagement as stipulated. Iraq was an unqualified success. they only place we lost was in the media and on the home front. Now the American people have spoken with their votes . The have chosen withdrawal and surrender over slogging it out and supporting our President. God help us for that decision, as the enemy takes heart in that what they have felt all along is true. The American people have no stomach for a fight. And your response is to become critical and impatient because it was taking too long .Well, I've got news. islam won't be defeated in a week or a year like some episode of twenty four. An f-ing war is not a docudrama with some preordained correct ending. We might not win at all. It might take longer than we think and it might lead to destroying half of the world, but we are all in this for better or worse and should support our leaders in that fight, not second guess everything they do.

[photodawg]

its not like that 'corvette' was in pristine shape to start with..

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Its the only car we've got, and even Dale Earnhart made mistakes at the wheel. It isn't easy to drive and its too risky to let that 12 year old get behind the wheel.

[MinorityRepublican]

RYMB

What does that stand for?

[The Westerner]

That's what I think. Who made the decision not to allow soldiers to fight in Mosques? Who made the decision to not allow profiling at airports? I can't believe these judgement calls were Rumsfields. He's a military man after all.

[spikeytx86]

Good, thats not what I am suggesting. He ain't my man, but it is looking that he is the white houses favorite. Talk to Bush and Rove, my monies with guliani not McLame.

[meandog]

The casualty rate in this war was very low, and the death rate even lower.

We've got no argument here! So, why couldn't the SOB find time to hand-write letters of condolences to loved ones of the fallen instead of assigning the task to his PA staff and AUTOPENNING the G-D things?
Rumsfeld is smart and did a good job in rebuilding a delapidated military, but he was arrogant, elite, with a better-than-thou, Ivy League-know-better, micromanagement attitude extending to the ranks and represented all that I hated in a few naval officers when I was in the service! Good riddance!

[photodawg]

So, why couldn't the SOB find time to hand-write letters of condolences to loved ones of the fallen instead of assigning the task to his PA
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

So he should be fired for calousness towards the families of the troops? Is he paying respects or winning a war. If he mismanaged things and caused the death of 10,000 soldiers instead of three thousand, but wrote them all hand written personal condolences would he be a better defense sec.?

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

In my view, the big killer for Rumsfeld was throwing Marines under the bus after they were brought up on trumped-up charges.

After Gallipoli, Winston Churchill resigned from government, joined the army as a Lt. Colonel, and went into battle on the front lines. Rumsfeld will go work a no-show job for a defense contractor that will make him richer. When govt. officials screw up now, they get to just walk away and go get richer somewhere else.

[Vinomori]

The American people have no stomach for a fight.

Not true. But the fight must be a true fight.

[photodawg]

Not true. But the fight must be a true fight.

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

This is not a John Wayne movie. Should we wait for the next attack on a major American population center before we understand the importance of what we are doing. A war means casualties, and battle fronts and patience and will to win. Part of the reason we are not ruthless enough in iraq is because it would turn off too many middle American apologists. Even saying it must be a "true fight" shows a lack of confidence and support for the cheif executive and his decisions. Believe it , he's the guy with the facts and he's where the buck stops. All of us second guessers have the luxury of hindsight without being held to the consequences. Conservative dissatisfaction and opposition to the way the war is being fought has contributed to the dems being in a position to insure we don't fight at all. Pelosi just said, "this is not a war to be won, its a situation to be solved."