Posted on 11/24/2004 11:28:56 AM PST by JZelle
Donald Rumsfeld — who's known as a people-eating systems man — has a long history that shows he prefers technology to humans. Certainly as SecDef he's always gone for high-tech military gear rather than giving the boots on the ground max priority when it comes to the basics: armored vehicles and vests, sufficient ammo and all the other vital stuff that helps soldiers make it through the Valley of Death. His beloved shock-and-awe whiz-bang wonder weapons worked well enough initially in Afghanistan and Iraq, but as we saw on the tube last week, we're once again back to the age-old struggle of man against man — with grunts, not machines, taking and holding ground. And now, apparently, Rumsfeld's obsession with machines and their efficiency has translated into his using one to replace his own John Hancock on KIA (killed in action) letters to parents and spouses. Two Pentagon-based colonels, who've both insisted on anonymity to protect their careers, have indignantly reported that the SecDef has relinquished this sacred duty to a signature device rather than signing the sad documents himself. When I went to Jim Turner, a good man saddled with a tough job as one of Rumsfeld's flacks at the Pentagon, for a confirmation or a denial, he said, "Rumsfeld signs the letters himself." I then went to about a dozen next-of-kin of American soldiers KIA in Iraq. Most agreed with the colonels' accusations and said they'd noticed and been insulted by the machine-driven signature.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
We must have both the best high tech and low tech arsenals and training.
We cannot fight a war of attrition against China or the Muslim world and hope to survive. We simply don't have enough people. Therefore we must have high-tech. As Rumfield said, "We are much more lethal." We have to be.
But at the same time we must prepare for the eventuality that an EMP or advance satellite warfare knocks out our technical system. That or simply the house to house fighting that we have seen lately dictates that we must have superior ground warfare and low tech capabilities.
If you read the article, it's a rant against Rumsfeld and Bush for not personally signing the condolence letters to families of KIAs.
Personally I'm sick of Hackoff and his holier than thou attitude.
Hackworth is annoying at best, and dangerous at worst.
Colonel Hackworth, whom I greatly respect as a soldier and a leader of men, has never had any love lost, ever, for anybody far above him in the chain of command. At least not that I have ever heard in any of his public comments or writing. Just my opinion there.
That said, how much did technology save the lives of our men in combat in Fallujah? From many accounts, there is a 40 to 1 casualty ratio in our favor, going up against an entrenched, fanatical opponent in a heavily urbanized environment, with no element of surprise. I would much rather have had a 2000 to nothing ratio, but we have to be realistic. With that in mind, every RPV that brought down a JDAM on a bunch of terrorists saved our mens lives. Every time our guys peered through night vision goggles and picked off one of their guys at night, that was one less guy who could attack our guys.
The point is, even though the guys still have to put their life on the line to get the job done, technology is swinging things more and more lopsidedly in our favor and against our enemies.
No matter what you do, even if you have our guys swaddled in armor from head to foot to where they cannot even walk, that still will not save their lives if an enemy manages to get off a good shot at the right time.
Do I wish Rumsfeld signed each one with his own hand? Sure. Did that happen in Vietnam or WWII? I don't think so. I would rather he spent his energy figuring out ways to get smart ordinance that can end up as a terrorist suppository when they pull down their pants to take a dump.
Hack is a moron.
Stronger ROE would have saved lives. This demoralizing pap only hurts moral and give the MSM more ammo to whine about easy it is for our armed forces to break things.
In the end, ROE becomes restrictive. This ROE environment gets MArines killed and Hack is making it worse along with the like of Kevin Sites.
Thanks for being a tool of the left HAck and indirectly helping to get our guys killed.
Oh, I didn't read the whole article. I just read the excerpt and thought it was ranting against Rumsfield for having too high tech a military.
I don't understand the problem. When I worked as a civilian in the govt some years ago, the sigmac (signature machine) was a necessary piece of machinery given the volume of documents that required a signature by high-level executives. Plus, this one high-level govt executive always signed in green ink. It was like his signature color, for lack of a better description. I can understand the letter to the parents of our heroes killed in action should be personally signed, but there are times that cannot occur, especially if the high-level exec is traveling around the world.
Is anyone actually taking him seriously on ANY level?
Hack, whiner, tool of the left, moral destroyer and MArine killer.
Read the whole column. They dont even know if they used auto signature or not. What if it turns out that they did and do sign all the KIA letters?
...I called Turner back and told him there was evidence that Rumsfeld's signature was in fact machine-produced. I asked him to double-check, and he promised to get me the straight skinny by my deadline. But late Friday I received a typical Pentagon duck-and-dodge e-mail: "Regret to say I have not been able to get a response as of COB (close of business) today ..."
He needs to shut his pie hole before he ends up in the funny farm. I find many of his comments to be out of line during a time of war, and he should know better.
If he was only trying to help with the safety and security of our guys, it would be different, but he is looking to undermine respect for the admin, and that just is not the right thing to do. Not now, not ever, not even. he is acting like a anti-establishment hippie who wants to lead a rebellion or a military coup.
I did notice his sudden disappearance from the FOX news shows shortly after the Iraq war started.
He has pretty much been dis-invited by all the media and uses his web site for his unrelenting attacks on the DOD and Admin.
I do not defame all antiwar sentiment, but it is a intellectual discussion that has a time and a place.
It's a wonder he was never on CBS news w/ Dan.
The HACK is the proper nickname for this man.
Of course I mean Hackworth(less)
I hope Rumsfeld takes the time to sign these letters. It's important to many people. Fortunately (or unfortunately) depending on your view, he only needs to sign a few each week.
God speed to our troops. I hope this story isn't true. If it is, Rumsfeld (whom I like very much) needs to say he blew it and sign every one of those letters IMHO.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.