Source: Army secretary resigns on Rumsfeld's demand

CNN.com ^ | 4/25/03

[Fred Mertz]

We've never discussed our mutual disdain for Rummy before. We must do coffee one morning.

[mikenola]

He says Rick Shinseki has made a few errors as the CoS, but not nearly as many as Rummy has made and I believe him.

Could you give details please as to these errors that Rumsfeld made in your view?

Thanks

[Tailback]

RE: #144

Great post.

[1rudeboy]

Because he cannot justify the assertion. Any "idiot" here can pull-up Mr.Rumsfeld's resume and see for themselves.

Let's see, on the one hand we have a list of Mr. Rumsfeld's accomplishments, and on the other we have the opinion of some guy named Fred. Tough one.

[1rudeboy]

Or, maybe Fred Mertz is Tom White.

[PhilDragoo]

Now, if you want an example of a political general, then look no further that Wes Clark.

Clark was asked a question by a reporter and used his cell phone to call CNN for permission to answer.

CNN refused permission, Clark said, "No comment," and walked away.

[PhilDragoo]

Your outlined points regarding White's resignation and Rumsfeld's competence at 144 are the most cogent statement of the issue.

[Tailback]

Is Rumsfield for or against the Stryker vehicle? How about White, for or against? I think that the Abrams and Bradley once again proved that heavy armor still has a place, I hope Rumsfield doesn't plan on killing any future tracked vehicle projects.

[SLB]

Or, maybe Fred Mertz is Tom White.

Are you keeping something hidden from the rest of us?

Coffee? We could do a cup at 4:00 PM (1600) on Monday. Are you free then?

[PhilDragoo]

Besides, Rummy has great wit and sure knows how to put idiot reporters in their place.

Rumsfeld is the smartest man in the room and smarter than the first three rows combined.

He could beat any twelve present in intellectual ping pong, standing fifteen feet back like an Olympic champion.

The standard "question" asked by the leftist propagandists is, "Can you give us some idea when you will stop beating your wife?"

How fitting that CNN admits it was a willing accessory to twelve years of Saddam's murder and torture.

CNN also perpetrated the hoax of Operation Tailwind, the hoax of the No Gun Ri massacre, and spawned that chancrous maggot, Peter Arnett.

CNN opined the U.S. was the bully in the Cold War, and is currently covering for Fidel Castro.

The truth is, Iraqi intelligence arranged meetings with Osama bin Laden's envoy (in preparation for face-to-face with OBL) as early as February-March 1998--when Bill Clinton was refusing OBL when offered by Sudan.

[Fred Mertz]

Yes I am.

They told me to come in tomorrow at 1300 hrs, but I said it's against my faith to work on Sunday.

I don't know Tom White, but those around me that have worked with him give him the highest accolades. And, you know, the folks around here (where I work) are a tough crowd to please.

[PhilDragoo]

But then we have to remember that "them" are for the most part Clintonista era career climbers who used the spines of those who made things work to climb to the top.

Clinton fired Woolsey, installed Deutch. Deutch compromised 17,000 secret files on his unsecure home computer logged onto Russian sites.

Deutch fled to Citicorp (see also Robert Rubin) having put the rogue ICBM threat fifteen years out.

Along comes the Rumsfeld Commission to say nay--and lo and behold, Chia Pet Kim Jong Il throws a Taepodong over Japan in August of 1998.

Cohen would have remained passive as Hussein pursued his OBL relationship (shown to have its roots in a February-March 1998 meeting).

Now we are positioned to act now that Iran is on the eve of producing weapons-grade material for its Russian-derivative missiles.

[nicmarlo]

Rumsfeld is the smartest man in the room and smarter than the first three rows combined.

I agree; and I also agree with your assessment of Aljazeera-west (CNN).

[Charles H. (The_r0nin)]

I knew a teacher who was incredibly good in the classroom. The kids loved him, the parents loved him, and the administration loved him. He was exactly what the model of the perfect teacher should be. After about ten years, he was a department head. Then, shortly after, the county wanted him to move up to assistant principal, then to the county main office. He seemed to be the perfect choice, being someone who both knew teaching and parent-teacher relations.

Unfortunately, because of the situation in the county, the change to a new curriculum that he wasn't particularly thrilled with (standardized testing), he found himself unable to enthusiastically support the changes he would have to be making in his schools. The new emphasis on quantitative evaluations was the right way to go, but he had never really needed them much because of how good of a teacher he was. But, on a state-wide, county-wide, and school-wide level, these tests were a step in the right direction. So he found himself in a position of not really supporting the work he was going to be doing. This story has a happy ending, as he moved back down after a few years and taught until his retirement, and I believe he was much happier there, anyway.

The moral of the story: sometimes good people, through no fault of their own (or anyone else's), end up in the wrong place at the wrong time, and have to go. White's forced resignation isn't necessarily an attack on him. He may not have been the right man for the moment. Perhaps if some people here had a bit more distance from the decision, they could see that as a possibility.

Being close to the participants might give you more information, but it doesn't necessarily lead to better decisions. In fact, it might lead to much worse ones, for the same reason that a lawyer doesn't defend himself, nor a doctor operate on himself. Sometimes you need distance to see the forest for the trees (and to understand that a good man might not be a good fit)...

[Interesting Times]

Here... maybe this will help.

[centurion316]

I'm not sure that I have the ground truth info on Keane's decision. But, its certainly plausible that he decided that it wasn't worth the grief. He doesn't suffer fools gladly.

No doubt that Shinseki made a PR boo boo over the berets, but the truth is that the troops kinda like them, and we no longer have the Bragg - Rest of the Army divide.

[MEG33]

Good post.

[bvw]

The value of your reply was what? That your unfounded opinion is worth the time and eyballs of the 90K plus people who regularly read FR? You have a dag-nibbity waful high opinion of yourself.

Watch that the pedestal you've placed yourself on isn't a rotten wood termite hive!

[bvw]

Aljeezera is more honest than CNN ...

[nicmarlo]

That's true, at least Al Jazeera was up front in their obvious bias, ridiculously so; CNN pretended to be honest and also lied about their alleged honesty in reporting.