Victor Davis Hanson: Leave Rumsfeld Be, He is not to blame for our difficulties

NRO ^ | 12/23/2004 | Victor Davis Hanson

[ArGee]

Just to help us remember the difference between the men of yesteryear and the weenies of today's MSM, reread the Gettysburg Address posted here

Shalom.

[Antoninus]

They are all despicable human beings who, by swaying public opinion against Rumsfeld and the war, are harming our troops and giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

Exactly. Do these idiots not realize that forcing Rumsfeld out would be seized upon as a great victory by the islamofascists and by our resident media enemies? In the case of McCain, Hegel, and Lott, their personal piques and interests are now--and always have been--more important ot them than the good of the country.

[Grampa Dave]

Super oped which slices and dices the Rino/Rat/Pseudo Conservatives on FR and the MSM recent out break of Rummy Phobia.

[Grampa Dave]

Now, we find out that the Rino Rat Kristol was one of the Rino A$$holes behind this Rummy Phobia.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1307092/posts?page=1,20

Neocons vs. Rumsfeld
townhall.com ^ | 12/23/04 | Robert Novak


Posted on 12/22/2004 10:36:58 PM PST by kattracks



WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In the bowels of the Pentagon, the colleagues and subordinates of Donald Rumsfeld were not upset by Republican senators who were sniping at him. Instead, they complained bitterly about a call for his removal by a private citizen with no political leadership position: William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard. His position was, in effect, a declaration of war by the neoconservatives against the secretary of defense.
The capital's feeding frenzy over Rumsfeld's fate did not begin until Kristol's Dec. 12 op-ed column in The Washington Post. While critical senators did not get to the point of demanding Rumsfeld's removal, Kristol did. He said the troops in Iraq "deserve a better defense secretary than the one we have." A firm declaration by a prominent Republican activist turned journalist who is the clarion of neoconservatism counts for more than equivocation by U.S. senators.

Rumsfeld's civilian colleagues at the Pentagon are furious because they consider Kristol a manipulative political operative, critiquing the war in Iraq after years of promoting it. But his criticism has a broader base. Kristol long has called for big-government conservatism, which on the international sphere involves proactively pursuing democracy around the world. He and the other neocons do not want to be blamed for what has become a very unpopular venture in Iraq. Thus, it is important to get the word out now that the war in Iraq has gone awry because of the way Rumsfeld fought it.

Rumsfeld is often bracketed with the neocons, but that is incorrect. In a long political career that dates back to his election to Congress in 1962, he has not even been associated with the traditional conservative movement. In the run-up to the attack on Iraq, he was not aggressively pressing intervention by force of arms, but instead was shaping a military response to fit President Bush's command.

Rumsfeld did name Richard Perle, one of the foremost neocon voices calling for a change of regime in Baghdad, as chairman of the part-time Defense Policy Board. Also named to the board was Kenneth Adelman, an old friend of Rumsfeld's who is identified as a neocon. Adelman gained notoriety by promising that the conquest of Iraq would be a "cakewalk." Indeed, rejoicing over the quick rout of Saddam Hussein's army, Adelman wrote that cakewalk -- a word always rejected by Rumsfeld -- turned out to be a correct description.

With the bloody occupation of Iraq underway, Adelman's demeanor changed in his frequent appearances on CNN's "Crossfire" (where I often was a co-host). His mood became more subdued. The garish, oversized American flag necktie that Adelman wore as he urged war on Iraq was retired, as he somberly began to criticize (while never mentioning Rumsfeld by name).

On April 30 of this year, Adelman said a "miscalculation" had been made in war planning because the operation in Iraq "has gone worse than we expected a year ago." On June 28, he said "there were failures," adding that the purge of Baath Party members and "the dismissal of the army was something that we could have done a lot better." On Nov. 8, he said failure to clean insurgents out of Fallujah was "a bad decision."

Unlike Adelman, Kristol pinned defects in war-fighting tactics directly on Rumsfeld. In a Weekly Standard essay of Nov. 17, 2003 (written with his frequent collaborator, Robert Kagan), Kristol assailed Rumsfeld for sending insufficient troops to Iraq. "Rumsfeld remains dogmatically committed to a smaller force," he wrote.

Thus, the neocon message is that the war was no mistake but has been badly conducted. While Adelman does not blame his friend Rumsfeld, the accountability of the secretary of defense is implicit. Kristol's call for Rumsfeld's dismissal removes culpability for those who beat the drums to go to war.

Getting rid of Rumsfeld does not answer agonizing questions. Was the change of regime in Baghdad worth going to war? Could Saddam Hussein have been removed from power by other means? Is the use of U.S. military power to topple undemocratic regimes good policy?

There are no clear answers. To say simply that all would be well in Iraq, save for Don Rumsfeld, only begs these questions.

[MeekOneGOP]

Victor Davis Hanson: Leave Rumsfeld Be,
He is not to blame for our difficulties

Excerpt:

So it is with the latest feeding-frenzy over Donald Rumsfeld. His recent spur-of-the-moment — but historically plausible — remarks to the effect that one goes to war with the army one has rather than the army one wishes for angered even conservatives. The demands for his head are to be laughed off from an unserious Maureen Dowd — ranting on spec about the shadowy neocon triad of Wolfowitz, Feith, and Perle — but taken seriously from a livid Bill Kristol or Trent Lott. Rumsfeld is, of course, a blunt and proud man, and thus can say things off the cuff that in studied retrospect seem strikingly callous rather than forthright. No doubt he has chewed out officers who deserved better. And perhaps his quip to the scripted, not-so-impromptu question was not his best moment. But his resignation would be a grave mistake for this country at war, for a variety of reasons.

First, according to reports, the unit in question had 784 of its 804 vehicles up-armored. Humvees are transportation and support assets that traditionally have never been so protected. That the fluid lines in Iraq are different not just from those in World War II or Korea, but even Vietnam, Gulf War I, Mogadishu, and Afghanistan became clear only over months. Yet it also in fact explains why we are seeing 80 to 90 percent of these neo-Jeeps already retrofitted. In an army replete with Bradleys and Abramses, no one could have known before Iraq that Hummers would need to become armored vehicles as well. Nevertheless all of them will be in a fleet of many thousands in less than 18 months. Would that World War II Sherman tanks after three years in the field had enough armor to stop a single Panzerfaust: At war's end German teenagers with cheap proto-RPGs were still incinerating Americans in their "Ronson Lighters."

Second, being unprepared in war is, tragically, nothing new. It now seems near criminal that Americans fought in North Africa with medium Stuart tanks, whose 37-millimeter cannons ("pea-shooters" or "squirrel guns") and thin skins ensured the deaths of hundreds of GIs. Climbing into Devastator torpedo bombers was tantamount to a death sentence in 1942; when fully armed and flown into a headwind, these airborne relics were lucky to make 100 knots — not quite as bad as sending fabric Brewster Buffaloes up against Zeros. Yet FDR and George Marshall, both responsible for U.S. military preparedness, had plenty of time to see what Japan and Germany were doing in the late 1930s. Under the present logic of retrospective perfection, both had years to ensure our boys adequate planes and tanks — and thus should have resigned when the death toll of tankers and pilots soared.

Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my General Interest ping list!. . .don't be shy.

[MeekOneGOP]

bump!

[Mo1]

The blame with this war falls not with Donald Rumsfeld. We are more often the problem — our mercurial mood swings and demands for instant perfection devoid of historical perspective about the tragic nature of god-awful war.

There is no such thing as instant perfection ... Especially in a time of war

[Mo1]

The WORST thing for troop morale would be to lose Mr. Rumsfeld, and the WORST thing for the WOT effort would be to take liberal advice on how to run it, whether from so-called Rebublicans or not.

---

I posted this on another thread .. I think I'll post it again here

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1307108/posts?page=12#12

To: Rabble
If I recall .. during Vietman .. Ho Chi Minh used the media and the anti war protestors to wear down public opinion, because it was the only way he could win the war
Seems to me the media hasn't learned from their past mistakes

12 posted on 12/23/2004 3:32:16 AM EST by Mo1

[Judith Anne]

Not only has the media learned nothing from their past mistakes, but they STILL refuse to admit they were mistakes.

[prairiebreeze]

I don't believe it is a mistake on the media's part. It was and remains their intention to make America lose. It's US that needs to learn the lesson. And fight the Fifth Column, aka MSM.

[Mo1]

It's US that needs to learn the lesson. And fight the Fifth Column, aka MSM.

I agree

[metesky]

if things continue to go awry in Iraq.

I strongly disagree that things are going awry in Iraq.

[lilmsdangrus]

love this guy's work!

[metesky]

"General" Kristol is a smarmy little *^@%$*!

[BigSkyFreeper]

Thanks MEG33 for pinging me to this great article. As always, VDH hits a homerun.

[MEG33]

Victor Davis Hanson is an American treasure!

[BigSkyFreeper]

Not only has the media learned nothing from their past mistakes, but they STILL refuse to admit they were mistakes.

Bingo!

[Grampa Dave]

If I posted my real feelings about Kristol, Jim Rob would have to ban me.

What is interesting is when some us pointed out the reality of Kristol early in 2001 for his attacks of GW. We got raked over the coals by some Kristol supporters. We are not hearing from any of them today.

[Miss Marple]

Yes, they seem to have disappeared, haven't they? Well, if they show up, I am armed with my information on Kristol.

I will be adding this attack on Rumsfeld to Kristol's LONG list of troublemaking. As you know, I am convinced he engineered the Jeffords switch.

I hope before he leaves office, President Bush gets some payback on that weasel possum, Kristol.

[Grampa Dave]

"I will be adding this attack on Rumsfeld to Kristol's LONG list of troublemaking. As you know, I am convinced he engineered the Jeffords switch."

There is nothing that Kristol has done to GW or will do to GW that will not surprise me.

Kristol is the Rino Rat King.