Posted on 12/19/2004 1:14:03 PM PST by ejdrapes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld did not personally sign his name on letters of condolence to families of troops killed in Iraq but instead had it done by a machine, an action lawmakers said on Sunday showed insensitivity and was inappropriate for leadership during war. Rumsfeld acknowledged that he had not signed the letters to family members of more than 1,000 U.S. troops killed in action and in a statement said he would now sign them in his own hand. "This issue of the secretary of Defense not personally signing the letters is just astounding to me and it does reflect how out of touch they are and how dismissive they are," Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "I have no confidence in Rumsfeld," Hagel added. Rumsfeld has been under strong fire from Democrats and some Republicans recently for appearing to brush off concerns of soldiers about the lack of protective equipment in Iraq. But President Bush's Chief of Staff Andrew Card emphasized White House support for Rumsfeld on Sunday. He "is doing a spectacular job, and the president has great confidence in him," Card told ABC's "This Week" program. Hagel noted that the families of the troops killed in Iraq have received letters signed by Bush. "My goodness, that is the least we can expect the secretary of Defense ... If the president can find the time to do that why can't the secretary of Defense?" said Hagel, who has been a sharp critic of the way Bush has handled the Iraq war. Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island said family members of those killed, "would like to think that at least for a moment the secretary thought about individually this young man or this young woman." "Again it shows a lack of leadership style appropriate for the military ... This goes to his capability to continue to serve." However, Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, said that while "this is another area in which the secretary is being insensitive," the action did not "go to his leadership." AUTOPEN RETIRED "I wrote and approved the now more than 1,000 letters sent to family members and next of kin of each of the servicemen and women killed in military action," Rumsfeld said in a statement on Sunday." "While I have not individually signed each one, in the interest of ensuring expeditious contact with grieving family members, I have directed that in the future I sign each letter." Rumsfeld got himself into trouble earlier this month by appearing to brush off a soldier headed to Iraq who complained that military vehicles did not have sufficient armor and troops were having to piece together scraps of metal for extra protections. Some prominent Republicans including Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain and former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott have questioned his performance, leading the White House to come to his defense on Friday with a statement that he was "doing a great job." Among the critics, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar expressed concern on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that removing him from office could threaten national security. "He should be held accountable and he should stay in office," the Indiana Republican senator said. "The fact is a change of leadership in the Pentagon at this point might be as disruptive as trying to get someone in Homeland Defense," he added. Military families told the Stars and Stripes newspaper, which first carried the story, that the machine-signed letters reflected a lack of respect for the losses the families had suffered. "To me it's an insult, not only as someone who lost a loved one but also as someone who served in Iraq," Army Spc. Ivan Medina whose brother Irving was killed in Iraq this summer, told the newspaper.Lawmakers Chide Rumsfeld for Auto-Signed Sympathy Letters
Lifetime ACU Ratings
Hagel: 85
McCain: 84
Lott: 92
Average rating: 87
A Democrat with a lifetime ACU rating of 85?
A RINO with a Lifetime ACU rating of 85?
Amen on your #10!
Rumsfeld failed the test of morality. Sending men to war to find WMD...no wait I mean to free 25 million Arabs...is one thing. Not spending the time to sign the bloody condolence letters is a disgrace and I'm not going to mindlessly back him since that would make me every bit as moronic as the lock-step left.
1,400 soldiers killed since 9/11 is a little over one a day. Rumsfeld can't sign a letter a day???
DISGRACE!
Think of it this way folks - if Clinton/Albright couldn't sign a letter to a soldier's family and let a machine do it would everyone here be cool with it?
Didn't think so.
The fact that Rumsfeld has had so few letters to sign - an act that would make a HUGE difference for grieving family - is further reason why he should always have done so.
Thank you. BTW, I was reading what one Marine said this morning after hearing that Rumsfeld did not sign the letter of condolence to his parents for the death in Iraq earlier this year of his brother, also a Marine. He noted that Rumsfeld has time for his daily squash game but not a few seconds to personally sign condolence letters. He needs to go -- I am a Goldwater/Reagan/GWBush conservative but we can't tolerate this crap, I don't care what Rumsfeld's political inclinations are.
Rummy's tenure is secure because he'll stay for spite. He could do everything wrong and be safe because no one in the WH or here at FR would want liberals to be happy about his departure.
Or as my father would have put it: You don't shoot a prize bull for pooping in the yard. But you can sure criticize it in spite of the best efforts of the Rummy Uber Alles crowd on FR.
bump!
In all fairness to ol' Rummy, that many signatures at his age could possibly lead to a mild case of writer's cramp. We wouldn't want such a valuable leader facing that kind of risk, do we?
JCBurton
Since Dec 13, 2004
Another Michael Moore Troll graduate pretending to be a conservative.
IMHO, this story is about anti-war families trying to get at the administration. Nothing more.
It's the gesture that counts.
It won't make a huge difference - if any at all - but it might help parents know that those sending their kids to war see them as being more than just another crew in the machine so to speak.
It's just a signature; takes two seconds. Why not do it?
The comparison to a CEO is ludicrous. We are not talking about a purchase request form here.
These are letters going to the family of service men who have given the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country.
It takes 5 seconds to sign a letter.
Given the significance of the letter being sent, Rummy should either sign it himself, or don't send a letter at all.
JC, although this is a news AND discussion site, you'd never know it from some of the participants who would have you defend every idiot and their incomprehensible actions (e.g., Rumsfeld) because they're employed by a conservative president. In other words, abandon your free thinking, independent logic, and vote like the citizens of Philadelphia do for the Left. Not in this house, no way, never.
"...you'd never know it from some of the participants who would have you defend every idiot and their incomprehensible actions..."
Exactly. Sticking to a position and defending it at all costs no matter what happens is the same mindless "logic" that has sunk the American Left and the Islamic Arab world into their current pathetic state of denial and conspiracy.
I refuse to follow any sort of playbook in the way I see things. Cheers!
You really sound like a liberal, "It's the gesture that counts."
bump!
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.