Posted on 01/02/2005 2:58:07 PM PST by Former Military Chick
The most curious turn of the worm this season is the attack by the neoconservatives on Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld for the failures in Iraq.
It should be noted that until now Rumsfeld was the darling of that same bunch. He hired a batch of them as his most trusted aides and assistants in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Paul Wolfowitz as his undersecretary. Douglas Feith as his chief of planning. He installed the dean of the pack, Richard Perle, as chairman of the Defense Policy Board for a time.
The doyenne and room mother of the whole bunch, Midge Decter, wrote a fawning biography of Rumsfeld titled Rumsfeld: A Personal Portrait.
Now, suddenly, the voice of the neoconservative movement, William Kristol, editor of The Standard, suggests that Rumsfeld has fouled up everything in Iraq and ought to be fired for his failures. Ditto, writes Tom Donnelly of the right-thinking American Enterprise Institute.
Rumsfeld himself was never a neoconservative. He just found them useful as he took over the Pentagon for the second time. Clearly the neocons found Rumsfeld useful as well as they pushed their ideas on transforming the Middle East.
Sharpening attacks
So what happened? Why is Rumsfeld being stabbed in the back by those he trusted the most to back his play? By the very people who have argued for years in favor of taking out Saddam Hussein, installing democracy and creating a bully pulpit, and the military bases, from which the Middle East would be weaned from dictatorship and an implacable hatred of Israel and the United States.
Simple. They want someone else to be blamed besides them for fouling up their marvelous plans and schemes -- someone who is a handy lightning rod and who is not a card-carrying neoconservative. So who better than Rumsfeld?
Now those folks who cheered Rumsfeld, and the Bush administration, the loudest of all nearly two years ago are marching behind such grumpy Republicans as Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska in laying much of the blame at the feet of Rumsfeld.
The sharpening attacks on the defense secretary as the old year fades and the new year approaches prompted the one man who has a vote on Rumsfeld's survival, President Bush, to step forward and praise him. That, in turn, prompted a semi-spirited defense of the secretary by Republican congressional leaders.
Rumsfeld himself, who has basically no people skills at all, found it politic to spend the holidays with the soldiers and Marines in Iraq. He was even pictured wearing an apron and serving up turkey and dressing in an Army mess hall in the desert. How could anyone think, he asked, that he was not totally committed to providing those troops everything they need for survival in a bad place?
We do not for a minute suggest that Rumsfeld be let off the hook, be absolved of responsibility for gross miscalculations and gross lack of planning in the Iraq war and, especially, the post-war period. But neither do we absolve the neoconservatives for shooting the horse they've been riding the last four years.
They were the loudest proponents of an attack on Iraq from the beginning. It was the neoconservatives who wanted to unleash the dogs of war. It was they who championed Ahmad Chalabi and his Iraq National Congress and saw that their bogus defector tales of Saddam's nuclear-weapons program and his stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons gained attention and traction.
America's damaged standing
They believed Chalabi and the INC's predictions that American troops would be welcomed with showers of rose petals and there would be no need for an American occupation. Ergo, no need for anyone to actually plan to secure the country in the wake of victory or lay the groundwork for rebuilding a nation whose water, power and sewer services were falling apart before we bombed and shelled them.
When Rumsfeld goes, so, too, should every neoconservative who squirmed his way into a Pentagon sinecure. They must also bear responsibility for a war that so far has cost nearly $200 billion and the lives of more than 1,300 U.S. troops and has damaged America's standing in the world.
They cannot be allowed to load all the blame on Rumsfeld and scoot away to lick their wounds and dream again their large dreams of conquest and empire and preemptive strikes.
Joseph L. Galloway is the senior military correspondent for Knight Ridder Newspapers.
You just never stop, do you?
Your anti-semitism is so evident to anyone who reads your posts. You're a disgrace.
You're Semitism is readily apparent after taking Churchill to the woodshed. Is that so bad? A little prejudice in the form of free speech doesn't bother me. Trying to stifle free speech by accusations of behavior problems does bother me.
Huh? Are you one of those jerks who uses the word "antisemite" -- or "racist" -- to slur anyone you disagree with? Guess you got the idea from Jesse Jackson. Like you, when he encounters an argument he can't refute, he yells, "racist!"
Have you been following churchie's posts? I have and unless you have read his posts for the last year, I will tell you that you don't know what you're talking about.
He is the Neville Chamberlain of Free Republic. That's just a hint so you'll know who you are defending.
Your anti-semitism"""
Huh? Are you one of those jerks who uses the word "antisemite" -- or "racist" -- to slur anyone you disagree with? Guess you got the idea from Jesse Jackson. Like you, when he encounters an argument he can't refute, he yells, "racist!"
Why would Peach call me "antisemite" for opposing the Iraq invasion? I don't get it - - except that it's an easy slur for lugheads like him to use, to try to shut someone up. It's the Jesse Jackson school of debate.
You are well on record, Neville, of trying to blame our support for Israel and the Jews for nearly everything.
Your record of appeasement is also well noted. And every freeper who has been paying attention knows it.
That's a lie. You remind me of Maxine Waters, who called President Bush a "racist" because he disagreed with her on policy issues. I disagree with you on the wisdom of invading Iraq, and you call me an "antisemite" That's a total nonsequitor -- meaning, there's no connection between "semitism" and the Iraq issue. do you also say I'm "antisemite" because I disagree with your on abortion (you're pro-abortion, from what I've been able to tell). I probably believe in bigger tax cuts than you. Does that also make me an "antisemite"? Anybody who disagrees with Peach is "antisemite" !!!! You and Jesse and Maxine really ought to get together, you all use the same kind of hate-filled rhetoric against people who disagree with you.
You're a low-life liar. You can't give one example of me ever blaming anything on "our support for Israql and the Jews." I've been posting here for 6 years and never have I suggested anything of the sort. You can't provide one example, because I don't hold those views - it would be like me posting a pro-abortion comment; you can't find one of those, either - - - you pitiful sleaze-slinger.
I stand by post #47 and anyone reviewing your posting history can see the truth.
Neville - Freepers have been accusing you of being an anti-semite for as long as I can remember. And for good reason.
And as I said, one needs only review your posting history. Go snivel in a corner. I'm finished with you until I see you post more lies about Iraq.
It seems the "Neocons" have jumped ship when the times got hard. Well, the "Neocons" aren't why we are at war, and The Bush Admin isn't controlled by the "Neocons". The Bush admin is working ins OUR interest, and not a few high-brow media desk jockeys.
You're the one with the BS cliches.
I didn't use the term "Israel based" which these NYC urbans clearly are not. Like I said, criticize a neo and get called an antisemite... They are pro-Israel, as am I, but they were not much use in helping with the 76% of US Jews who voted for the anti-Israel presidential candidate. They also got very carried away with the ideals of "hegemony" that landed us a powerful new Al Quaeda enemy in the Balkans. Don't believe me? Google up "neoconservative balkans" and enjoy the roller coaster. It's quite the eye-opener. Read how they joined up with Clintonites to bomb Kosovo. Wesley Clark. Maddie Albright. McVain. Biden.
But my other objection to the neo intellirati is that they are simply boring. They run all the conservative publishing outlets, and they all sound just alike--prissily pretentious, self-adoring Ivy League, jazz-bar latte suckups. I'm tired to death of them and all their cautious prettiness. They won't give writers like Ann Coulter any ink.
I want some new writers to write some new things. I'm sick of the Kristol/Krauthammer bunch.
However, reading further, I am a cross between an ideolistic conservative (75%) and neo-con(20%) and Libertarian (5%).
One thing I totally disagree with the posted article...We need a hard a$$ like Rumsfeld running our military. His job isn't to clean up the mess. His job is to send in the troops to make the mess.
If anyone should go, it should be the state department head...oh, wait...he's gone in a short time.
Don't panic people. THings will get straight soon.
You assume that they are some monolithic group acting in concert. That alone makes your analysis nonsense.
Who're the "they" in your response? I drew a distinction between what is claimed to be neoconservatism in the WH admin and the present vapid, dreary twerps who have claimed literati status. It is a rare conservative who can endure Kristol's continued haughtiness--and he is the premier neo "intellectual".
The children (and neighborhood children) of Irving the Wise and Midge the Judge and Gertrude the Unintelligible dominate the FEW conservative outlets that exist--Weekly Standard, NR--
What "acting" they do in concert is to bore and keep on boring with perfect immunity to a market that is tired of them--and writers like Ann Coulter send these little princelings of publishing running for Mumsey and the inhaler...
"Neocon" is a polite way to say "Jew" in liberal circles.
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.