Rummy's bum rap

Washington Times ^ | Tuesday, December 21, 2004 | By Frank J. Gaffney Jr.

[JohnHuang2]

Donald Rumsfeld is one of the most experienced men in Washington. So he is presumably not surprised at the fickleness of the chattering classes. Not so long ago, he got nothing but fabulous press and fawning treatment from Congress and the public. Now, the "smart people" have formed up for a political lynch mob demanding his head, with even Republicans insisting that he lose his job once the votes are counted in Iraq.
    Even a veteran of decades of inside-the-Beltway and corporate bloodletting like "Rummy" might be amazed by the grounds on which he is being pilloried, however.
    Take for example the outrage that has accompanied his response in Kuwait to a soldier in the Tennessee National Guard about the lack of adequate armor protection for troops going into Iraq -- a response universally described by media and other Rumsfeld critics as "arrogant." Long-time Human Events editor Allan Ryskind recently observed that the sound-bite in question sounds entirely different in the full context of Mr. Rumsfeld's respectful and characteristically thoughtful answer.
    The first thing he said was: "I talked to the general coming out here about the pace at which the vehicles are being armored. They have been brought from all over the world, wherever they're not needed, to a place here where they are needed. I'm told that they are being -- the Army is -- I think it's something like 400 a month are being done. And it's essentially a matter of physics. It isn't a matter of money. It isn't a matter on the part of the Army of desire. It's a matter of production and capability of doing it."

[Just mythoughts]

I call the mob McCain and his insurgents. LOSERS BIG TIME!

[JulieRNR21]

RUMMY.....BUMP