Posted on 12/19/2004 6:55:52 PM PST by West Coast Conservative
Despite continued criticism of his handling of the war in Iraq, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld won strong backing Sunday from the White House and key Republicans in Congress.
Responding to demands last week by some conservatives for Rumsfeld's resignation, White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. said President Bush fully supported his Defense secretary.
"Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a spectacular job, and the president has great confidence in him," Card said on ABC's "This Week." "He's also transforming the military. And any time you do that, there are controversies."
The White House show of support came as new criticism arose over reports that Rumsfeld had relied on an automated signature machine to sign letters sent to the families of soldiers killed in combat. In Iraq alone, more than 1,300 members of the military have died since the war began in March 2003.
On Friday, in a response to the armed services newspaper Stars and Stripes, Rumsfeld acknowledged that he had used the machines as a way to speed up his responses to the families of the dead. But he said he would now personally sign all such correspondence.
"I have directed that in the future I sign each letter," Rumsfeld declared in a formal statement carried in the newspaper's Friday editions.
While Republican leaders Sunday were sharply critical of what Rumsfeld had done, few joined the call for him to step down.
"This is another area in which the secretary has been insensitive," Sen. Saxton Chambliss, R-Ga., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "I don't think it goes to his leadership, but it does show a little insensitivity on his part that certainly needs to be corrected."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
What is it with these silver-haired, perfumed princes in the Senate?
Hey, Saxby! Do you sign every letter that leaves your Senate offices, or do you have flunkies who do that for you?
I love Secretary Rumsfeld and believe he's doing a great job. I'd like to see him do more than sign each future letter, however. It'd be worthwhile to go back and send each military family an additional letter signed not only himself but by President Bush, as well.
McCain
Collins
Lott
Hagel
Chambliss
Coleman
Kristol
backhanded slight Warner
Still taking notes, Senators. If it's a choice between you and Rumsefeld, I choose Rumsfeld. Kristol, Pfft. I have more affection for Juan at this point, than I do Kristol.
Methinks this all has more to do with the future of the military than it does about Iraq.
Someone(s) doesn't like the idea of Rummy being around for much longer -- which makes me believe he's the guy for the job!
If the soldiers and Marines can take time from their busy schedule to die for their country, Rumsfeld can find time
in his to personally sign the condolence letter.
If Rumsfeld didn't sign the letters, then he surely didn't write them, If he didn't write them or sign them, then it is safe to assume he never saw them.
I doubt he even knew they were being sent to the families.
Agreed. Signing a letter seems like a simple task and one that someone at DOD should have considered.
Excellent post.
Prior to Rumsfeld, Secretaries of Defense did not send out condolence letters. They were sent out by unit commanders, and the Commander in Chief.
So, he knew they were being sent out.
Thank you. I might very well have my next tag line.
Sen. Warner Backs Rumsfeld from Newsmax.
As sure as you are of yours.
He didn't sign them, he didn't write them, the next logical assumption is he didn't see them.
Give me your logical assumptions leading to the conclusion
he did see them.
Not to make excuses, but for a period of time, Rumsfield was incapacitated by surgery. If it wasn't his writing hand, then it obviously is not an excuse.
Well guess what?
Nobody likes that "not public yet" list, and they think the only way to prevent Armageddon is to get rid of Rummy. They will fail, and everything I said about it months ago is about to come true. And the pork that Senators depend on, will be gone forever.
He said he wrote them but didn't sign them. How's that?
I think the jury is still out on whether the Iraq war was, in balance, a mistake or not. But the criticisms coming from the Democrats and the media--for example, from Sen. Kerry--are so nauseating, I have to give the benefit of the doubt to Pres. Bush and Rummy.
The Senate's top military man rejected calls from some his colleagues for Rumsfeld to step down, saying, "We should not at this point in time entertain any idea of changing those responsibilities in the Pentagon." Warner added, "We should express our confidence in the commander in chief and his principal subordinates. The president makes the choice, and we're going to back the president and support his choice and make it work."
Hardly a ringing endorsement, so he makes my list with asterisk.
In another thread, I was wrong when I said that Donald Rumsfeld should be forced out of his position over this. And I am big enough to admit when I am wrong, which I do now. But having said that, he deserves every iota of criticism he is getting over this incident, and I have lost a lot of any personal respect I had for him.
He'll lose sleep over it, for sure.
You guys that admit when you're wrong, but you still have to be right, about something, are funny.
Would you be bellyaching if he, like every other Secretary of Defense before him, simply left the letters of condolence to the President?
IOW, the letter is of no significance? It's the signature that sticks in your craw?
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