Posted on 08/04/2006 11:29:31 AM PDT by yoe
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton called Thursday for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, hours after excoriating him at a public hearing over what she said was a failed policy in Iraq.
I just don't understand why we can't get new leadership that would give us a fighting chance to turn the situation around before it's too late, the New York Democrat told the Associated Press.
I think the president should choose to accept Secretary Rumsfeld's resignation.
Clinton confronted Rumsfeld directly on Iraq and Afghanistan earlier in the day, and said his answers left her convinced he should go.
The secretary has lost credibility with the Congress and with the people. It's time for him to step down and be replaced by someone who can develop an effective strategy and communicate it effectively to the American people and to the world.
For months, Clinton has resisted joining the chorus of other Democrats demanding Rumsfeld's ouster. Her remarks Thursday were the harshest assessment yet from the woman considered her party's early front-runner for the 2008 presidential nomination.
The former first lady has come under attack from some in her own party for her 2002 vote for the war and her current opposition to a deadline for U.S. troop withdrawal.
I am frankly tired of hearing the same stories from the administration's national security team, Clinton told the AP. The president changed his economic team, he changed his White House team - I think it's time for him to change his security and defense team.
Clinton said her own view of the war has not changed.
What's been clear is that despite my being a constant and persistent critic of how the president has conducted the war, it has not achieved the goals that he has set, she said.
Earlier in the day, the senator wasted no time going after Rumsfeld when he testified in a morning hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Under your leadership there have been numerous errors in judgment that have led us to where we are, the New York Democrat said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. We have a full-fledged insurgency and full-blown sectarian conflict in Iraq.
The defense secretary seemed briefly stunned by the intensity of her attack, exclaiming, My goodness, before launching into a point-by-point defense.
He rejected some of her specific criticisms as simply wrong and said the war against terror will be a drawn-out process.
Are there setbacks? Yes, said Rumsfeld. Is this problem going to get solved in the near term? I think it's going to take some time.
The testy exchange between Clinton and Rumsfeld came after a top general told the panel violence in Iraq is probably as bad as he's ever seen it and the country may be descending into civil war.
We hear a lot of happy talk and rosy scenarios, but because of the administration's strategic blunders - and frankly the record of incompetence in executing - you are presiding over a failed policy, she said. Given your track record, Secretary Rumsfeld, why should we believe your assurances now?
Rumsfeld vehemently denied he'd ever glossed over the difficulties of the fighting in Iraq or elsewhere.
There's a track record here, countered Clinton. This is not 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, when you appeared before this committee and made many comments and presented many assurances that have frankly proven to be unfulfilled.
Senator, I don't think that's true, Rumsfeld fired back. I have never painted a rosy picture. I've been very measured in my words and you'd have a dickens of a time trying to find instances where I've been excessively optimistic. I understand this is tough stuff.
At that point, the Republican chairman of the committee, Sen. John Warner of Virginia, came to Rumsfeld's defense, saying his past comments had been balanced.
Clinton still shied away from a demand made by a growing number of Democrats: a deadline for withdrawing troops from Iraq.
The disagreement between the two extended to Afghanistan. The senator specifically faulted Rumsfeld for saying in 2002 that the Taliban was gone, noting that the extremist faction has grown stronger in recent months.
He conceded violence has escalated in Afghanistan, but added, Does that represent failed policy? I don't know. I would say not.
The defense secretary said he expected the violence there to follow a seasonal pattern and decline as winter approaches.
Rush was right yesterday, she wasn't there for real answers from Rumsfeld, in fact she probably didn't even listen to him. She just called him there to make her grandstanding statements and demands.
If you haven't noticed this...her public speaking ability amounts to zero. It was noted over ten years ago that she lacked any real speaking ability. I think the major reason that Rudy got out of the first senate race is that the Republicans wanted her to cruise on...even this second race...is simply a cruise with no competition. Its all on purpose.
Once she steps out in 2008...and campaigns...speaking to crowds...it'll be a mess for her to look realistic while speaking. And the debates? Her democratic competition will tear her up in these debates. If she makes it past the primary season...any real Republican candidate will easily take her down in 3 debates. I'm doubting that she will allow herself in more than one debate.
Ya' know, after watching all this war coverage, I really don't believe anything the MSM (even Fox) puts out there as the 'truth'.
Old Crusty should be retired.
Rush has just ripped her a good one, and also the MSM/DBM (includie Georgy Porgy Steponallofus) which has tried (in vain) to make her diatribe on Rummy something profound and original. Rummy to Hillary: GTH and STHU!!
(ring, ring).........
"Hello. This is Secretary Rumsfeld"
"Secretary Rumsfeld, this is Senator Clinton."
"Sergeant, didn't I tell you not to let these crank calls get...."
(click.....rrr rrr rrr rrr rrr rrr rrr rrr)
Does keeping clams help prevent a stroke?
;->
Jed Babbin: Hillary Clinton attack on Rumsfeld was coordinated with the Associated Press
Apparently the world's smartest woman doesn't know or care enough about the subject matter to speak from memory.
Who cares what the ugly *itch wants?
Mrs. William Jefferson Clintoon is a genuine fool! May that traitor rot in He11.
And exactly what sort of experience does this one-term, carpet bagging junior Senator from New York base her "demand" that Secretary Rumsfeld resign?
Let's compare the two:
Donald Rumsfeld:
Mr. Rumsfeld attended Princeton University on academic and NROTC scholarships (A.B., 1954) and served in the U.S. Navy (1954-57) as an aviator and flight instructor. In 1957, he transferred to the Ready Reserve and continued his Naval service in flying and administrative assignments as a drilling reservist until 1975. He transferred to the Standby Reserve when he became Secretary of Defense in 1975 and to the Retired Reserve with the rank of Captain in 1989.
In 1957, he came to Washington, DC to serve as Administrative Assistant to a Congressman. After a stint with an investment banking firm, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois in 1962, at the age of 30, and was re-elected in 1964, 1966, and 1968.
Mr. Rumsfeld resigned from Congress in 1969 during his fourth term to join the President's Cabinet. From 1969 to 1970, he served as Director of the Office of Economic Opportunity and Assistant to the President. From 1971 to 1972, he was Counsellor to the President and Director of the Economic Stabilization Program. In 1973, he left Washington, DC, to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Brussels, Belgium (1973-1974).
In August 1974, he was called back to Washington, DC, to serve as Chairman of the transition to the Presidency of Gerald R. Ford. He then became Chief of Staff of the White House and a member of the President's Cabinet (1974-1975). He served as the 13th U.S. Secretary of Defense, the youngest in the country's history (1975-1977).
From 1977 to 1985 he served as Chief Executive Officer, President, and then Chairman of G.D. Searle & Co., a worldwide pharmaceutical company. The successful turnaround there earned him awards as the Outstanding Chief Executive Officer in the Pharmaceutical Industry from the Wall Street Transcript (1980) and Financial World (1981). From 1985 to 1990 he was in private business.
Mr. Rumsfeld served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Instrument Corporation from 1990 to 1993. General Instrument Corporation was a leader in broadband transmission, distribution, and access control technologies. Until being sworn in as the 21st Secretary of Defense, Mr. Rumsfeld served as Chairman of the Board of Gilead Sciences, Inc., a pharmaceutical company.
Before returning for his second tour as Secretary of Defense, Mr. Rumsfeld chaired the bipartisan U.S. Ballistic Missile Threat Commission, in 1998, and the U.S. Commission to Assess National Security Space Management and Organization, in 2000.
During his business career, Mr. Rumsfeld continued his public service in a variety of Federal posts, including:
Member of the President's General Advisory Committee on Arms Control (1982 - 1986);
Special Presidential Envoy on the Law of the Sea Treaty (1982 - 1983);
Senior Advisor to the President's Panel on Strategic Systems (1983 - 1984);
Member of the U.S. Joint Advisory Commission on U.S./Japan Relations (1983 - 1984);
Special Presidential Envoy to the Middle East (1983 - 1984);
Member of the National Commission on Public Service (1987 - 1990);
Member of the National Economic Commission (1988 - 1989);
Member of the Board of Visitors of the National Defense University (1988 - 1992);
Member of the Commission on U.S./Japan Relations (1989 - 1991); and
Member of the U.S. Trade Deficit Review Commission (1999 - 2000).
While in the private sector, Mr. Rumsfeld's civic activities included service as a member of the National Academy of Public Administration and a member of the boards of trustees of the Gerald R. Ford Foundation, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and the National Park Foundation, and as Chairman of the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships, Inc.
In 1977, Mr. Rumsfeld was awarded the nation's highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Subject: Your request for my resignation
The feeling is mutual.
Don
DON RUMSFELD AND THE GENERALS ARE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT!!!!!
------
Exactly -- GOOD news for America is BAD news for our anti-military, anti-American ThugoRats!!!
Rummy slapped her down, but unfortunately, only verbally.
When a society has a news media that consciously propogate lies (or which can't discern truth from lies), we're in a tight spot.
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