Posted on 12/19/2004 1:14:03 PM PST by ejdrapes
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld did not personally sign his name on letters of condolence to families of troops killed in Iraq but instead had it done by a machine, an action lawmakers said on Sunday showed insensitivity and was inappropriate for leadership during war. Rumsfeld acknowledged that he had not signed the letters to family members of more than 1,000 U.S. troops killed in action and in a statement said he would now sign them in his own hand. "This issue of the secretary of Defense not personally signing the letters is just astounding to me and it does reflect how out of touch they are and how dismissive they are," Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel said on CBS's "Face the Nation." "I have no confidence in Rumsfeld," Hagel added. Rumsfeld has been under strong fire from Democrats and some Republicans recently for appearing to brush off concerns of soldiers about the lack of protective equipment in Iraq. But President Bush's Chief of Staff Andrew Card emphasized White House support for Rumsfeld on Sunday. He "is doing a spectacular job, and the president has great confidence in him," Card told ABC's "This Week" program. Hagel noted that the families of the troops killed in Iraq have received letters signed by Bush. "My goodness, that is the least we can expect the secretary of Defense ... If the president can find the time to do that why can't the secretary of Defense?" said Hagel, who has been a sharp critic of the way Bush has handled the Iraq war. Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island said family members of those killed, "would like to think that at least for a moment the secretary thought about individually this young man or this young woman." "Again it shows a lack of leadership style appropriate for the military ... This goes to his capability to continue to serve." However, Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, said that while "this is another area in which the secretary is being insensitive," the action did not "go to his leadership." AUTOPEN RETIRED "I wrote and approved the now more than 1,000 letters sent to family members and next of kin of each of the servicemen and women killed in military action," Rumsfeld said in a statement on Sunday." "While I have not individually signed each one, in the interest of ensuring expeditious contact with grieving family members, I have directed that in the future I sign each letter." Rumsfeld got himself into trouble earlier this month by appearing to brush off a soldier headed to Iraq who complained that military vehicles did not have sufficient armor and troops were having to piece together scraps of metal for extra protections. Some prominent Republicans including Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain and former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott have questioned his performance, leading the White House to come to his defense on Friday with a statement that he was "doing a great job." Among the critics, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar expressed concern on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that removing him from office could threaten national security. "He should be held accountable and he should stay in office," the Indiana Republican senator said. "The fact is a change of leadership in the Pentagon at this point might be as disruptive as trying to get someone in Homeland Defense," he added. Military families told the Stars and Stripes newspaper, which first carried the story, that the machine-signed letters reflected a lack of respect for the losses the families had suffered. "To me it's an insult, not only as someone who lost a loved one but also as someone who served in Iraq," Army Spc. Ivan Medina whose brother Irving was killed in Iraq this summer, told the newspaper.Lawmakers Chide Rumsfeld for Auto-Signed Sympathy Letters
What is the total number of hand written and signed letters of condolences has ANY member of the Senate sent to the survivors of their constituents????? Inquiring minds want to know.
Make them show us the letters they've written. When they can't, make them RESIGN.
In the vast majority of cases, its not military personnel who are receiving these letters. They are going to the families, the vast majority of who are not in the military.
People have to stop being hypocrites on this board. Hold people to the same standard. And before anyone starts in on me...I AM a OIF vet and was there on "A Day." I will not comment on my personal opinion of Rumsfeld because of CoC issues. I will say this though...I am certainly glad to have him over Cohen.
Bump, ping, and everything else. With Donald Rumsfeld as SecDef, we have a chance to actually win this war. He really does need to stop doing stupid, easily-criticized stuff like this though. I am very glad that he has changed his policy on the letters.
As a member of Congress, Hagel is responsible for providing oversight of the executive branch. In addition, he should never put the needs of the party before the interests of the country.
As far as I am concerned Hagel can go to hell and take John McCain and Trent Lott with him.
My question to him would be, "How many letters to the families of the crew of the USS Cole that President Clinton allowed the terrorists to murder did Cohen personally sign?
I'm a retired army type and my career spanned nam to GWI. In every case, it fell either to the commander or chaplain to personaly write the families of both KIA and WIA troops. When did it become customary for the CIC or SECDEF to send such letters or is this because of the introduction of boilerplates and word processors?
I expect more from Rumsfeld than Cohen. How about you?
I do.
But this is not an attack on Rumsfield.
It is an attack on President Bush.
They do not have and cannot get any thing, as far as wrong doings, on President Bush, therefore, they attack him through his people.
These attacks have two purposes:
Destroy public confidence in President Bush by destroying confidence in the people he chose to run his administration.
Undermine the morale of both the Nation and the Armed Forces troops fighting abroad and stationed abroad.
I do not know if you are aware of it or not but after the attack on the Pentegon, Secretary Rumsfield refused to be evacuated to a safer location, instead he helped evacuate the wounded on strecthers.
This was occuring while the people who are critizing him were shaking like a dog s****### a peach seed.
Rummy's character is that he does care and is doing all he can.
If you support Rummy, ignore the nay sayers.
Sorry if I sound short or abrasive but I am getting a short fuse with the so called "moderate" Republicans.
They were quite as a church mouse while Bill Clinton was selling the Nation to the highest bidder.
But they carp like fishwives about everything President Bush does.
Hagel et al are hardly "moderate" Republicans.
Lifetime ACU Ratings
Coleman: 85
McCain: 84
Lott: 92
Hagel: 85
Average: 87
Nice red x ;)
>Should Rummy salute or just bend over ..??
Amazing!!! You are comparing taking it in the a$$ with signing a letter of condolence to the family of a fallen soldier?!?!?!
Get some perspective or shut the hell up.
>What about the SecDef during Kosovo, Bosnia, Somalia, etc.?? Did that person PERSONALLY SIGN ALL THE LETTERS ..?? You don't know do you ..??
I don't give a democRATS A$$ what Clinton's SecDef did. This is OUR administration and I expect, no I DEMAND that they to act with more class, more consideration and more empathy toward our military than any official from the Clinton administration did.
>WHY DON'T YOU KNOW - because this is a "gotcha" against Rumsfeld and not against a procedure that may have been place for years.
I have no doubt that the MSM takes great glee in reporting this. That doesn't change what is right.
The President found time to personally sign letters to these families. Again, I expect any public official that sends a letter to these families to either sign it themselves or don't send a letter at all.
And those people, too, are incensed with rage. <\nutcase>
There is one other thing, and it is important. There has always been a TENSION between the legislative and the executive branch of government. So often our American government is divided by party: one party has the Executive branch, the other has the Legislature. So the tension can be "disguised" or assumed to be merely "PARTISAN".
Now that Republicans have BOTH, we can easily see the "SYSTEMIC" tension--designed by the founding fathers--between the branches. The legislators think they're smarter than the executives...and of course vice versa. :)
Forensic DNA testing has revealed that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld did not personally lick postage stamps on letters to families of troops killed in Iraq.
"We're still looking for a positive DNA match on the stamp saliva," said an aide to Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-NE. "We've asked to swab the cheeks of dozens of Pentagon office staffers."
This new evidence of Mr. Rumsfeld's psychological detachment from the war in Iraq follows his admission that letters he wrote to families of soldiers and Marines included a facsimile of his signature, rather than a unique one done with his own hand each time.
Mr. Hagel could not be reached for comment, the aide said, because "the senator is busy handwriting a news release on the topic."
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