Gee, wasn't the theme in the military during Clinton a choice of "Don't make waves"(Typical a**-kissers) or "Cut and Run(Somalia)"?
Most if not all the generals included in this article, 4
Army, 2 Marines, look to have entered service in the mid to late 60s and early 70s.
Every one of them looks to have been involved with both Middle East operations in Kuwait from invasion and then Iraq.
In some of the comments I just saw after doing a little net searching, they appear to see Rumsfeld as not willing to listen to their advice, having an arrogant or discountive attitude towards their advice and or planning, some plans that one general said were 10 years or more in the works.
They forget that Rummy also served as a Navy pilot in the 50s in his early days and is well aware of what it takes to make a military work. Maybe it's just a branch rivalry or authority thing, ya never know.
In Rummy's defense , while serving under President Ford as the youngest Sec'y of Defense in our history, a period when the Mayaguez incident was handled quickly and efficiently.
Perhaps as you remarked, some of them became so accustomed to having their way during the clinton years that they lost sight of needing to respect superiors, no matter how stars they themselves wore. They now see Rummy as a civilian when he has been there so to speak form the other side as well.
Re; present days goings on,,Perhaps they think they could have done a better job, saved more lives if their advice was heeded, etc. Perhaps they are just old farts that need to just step aside as you say after failing to rise to the very top.
In saying now what they say, they are just making the job tougher for all who are still doing what they can to get the job done and working together to do so.
Perhaps, they should just do a MacArthur and just fade away.
Sadly that is not likely in the current media and political climate we live in today.
Yup...he's DA MAN!
I have found that people who get results often make the bitterest enemies.
And the bitterest enemies are often the ones who couldn't get anything done.
Coincidence?