The Donald Rumsfeld I know isn't the one you know

St. Paul Pioneer Press ^ | Nov. 12, 2006 | Douglas J. Feith

[Gondring]

It isn't just Cindy Sheehan and the far left that hates this Country MORE than they hate the terrorists. My heart is still in denial of this, even though I now know it is true.

Please grieve and then move out of denial into action. The GOP is still in denial and is not responding appropriately to the changes in this country. We must take back the news, educational, and entertainment media, or at the very least get some correct and contradicting info in there.

[jan in Colorado]

Rumsfeld is the kind of leader the country needs. Isn't it odd that he's not the kind of leader the country ENEMY wants?

The enemy from within celebrates every time they weaken this Country!

[Gondring]

You seem to be under the delusion that Rumsfeld is a general officer. You should be criticizing Abisaid, who is the theatre commander.

Guess you didn't read the article and my posts. I fault the theatre commander, as well!

[jan in Colorado]

Don't you worry...I'm taking action!

[Gondring]

The analyst that told decision makers: "arab muslims are constitutionally incapable of peaceful, civil, democratic, self-government"--was correct.

But that was not the answer anybody wanted to hear-least of all Bush, so the analyst probably got pushed out of the way.

Is this the death knell for neoconservatism irrationality?

[Just A Nobody]

Rummy didnt' have anything to do with the CONgresscritters losing their seats. They accomplished that all by themselves.

[Just A Nobody]

This country owes alot to Donald Rumsfield

Yes they do! And to men and women like you. Thank you all for your service!

[sarasmom]

" He said words to the effect that the branches of the military weren't formed to work together as one, and that each had their own budget and power. No branch wanted to lose in either category."

And this ludicrous outdated attitude and ingrained DOD "policy" was precisely what Mr. Rumsfield set out to destroy, although others had been quietly working on it for several decades.

God bless Mr. Rumsfeld! It appears he succeeded, for the most part.

That inane and useless "social" DOD mindset caused many friendly fire deaths, due to lack of communications and lack of appreciation of mission elements.

War in the 21st century is a joint military operation, not a series of partial missions by separate service branches.
It appears the US Navy has proven it's ability to meld ground, sea, and air elements under one unified command.

Make it permanent, and stop the madness based on groundless fears by politicians of military coups conducted by an all volunteer force.

It won't happen under a Democrat controlled legislature, but hopefully the next time Republicans gain power, they will have learned from their failures, and resolve not to repeat them.

[xzins]

I think Rumsfeld was a successful and insightful SecDef. I do not think he received a bum's rush. In fact, he is the longest serving SecDef in history. There is no military commander who is irreplaceable. It is the same with Rumsfeld. His time was simply up. The political situation had seriously changed.

And that is what I personally think the truth is.

If the Repubs had held back the Dems and retained even the Senate, I think Rummie would have stayed.

They lost both houses and the political landscape called for his departure.

The outcome of the election was the deciding factor.

[Cheburashka]

For all practical purposes, the Kurds have their own state.

The Kurds have their own state.

Those two statements are not the same.

[rlmorel]

This is a great, great post. Ping for later.

[truth_seeker]

Is this the death knell for neoconservatism irrationality?

Death knell? Who am I to say? Probably a major swing in relative influence.

Baker/Hamilton Iraq Study Group is old mainstream State Dept. go along to get along, endless negotiation uber alles, etc.

[ArtyFO]

Getting bogged down in Iraq with an undermanned force is the problem. The enterprize should never have been undertaken without a draft or an increase in forces and a force sufficient to complete the mission. Shenseki was right. Trying to fight a war on the cheap is the problem. If the resources can't be raised politically or economically, then just don't invade. Meanwhile, he has depleted the reserves and National Guard and put the forces in peril. Economy of force is a wrong headed idea. Overwhelming force is what Schwartzkopf and Powell advocated and demonstrated effectively. Rummy was removed for his failures. We need to learn from that.

[7thson]

I also think that people fail to look at the troops we wanted to swing down from Turkey, but not allowed to because Turkey voted no. I remember how the Dems and Bush critics praised the "democratic" vote but now they do not want Iraq to be a democracy. I also believe that this was a major failure of the State Department - Powell's State Department.

[7thson]

Not if you are a slacker. Anyway, I also remember before 9/11, their were calls to have him fired. Military people within the Pentagon, I think, were actually working against him but had to curtail their activiites once 9/11 happened.

[bitt]

"He destroyed the Army. He transformed the Army to a concoction of boutique brigades without adequate artillery support, suited to fight small actions only and little prepared to face the huge Chinese Army and another North Korean Army."

[Texas Songwriter]

wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't heard it with my own ears. I have worked in Boulder the past few weeks with the absentee ballots, and I have been left speechless(NEVER happens) by things I overheard them say. The hatred they have for this Country and this President is unfathomable. It isn't just Cindy Sheehan and the far left that hates this Country MORE than they hate the terrorists. My heart is still in denial of this, even though I now know it is true. I feel like I did on 9/11...

I know you are correct. The maddness of the media, though they more often than not tried to convince us of something that was not true, revealed them for what they are. As voting time approach, they became more frenetic, dispensing of veiled attempt to 'seem to be fair'. Well, they were Boulder citizens, and all around this country. The radical hippies have deluded 50% + 1 of the population to seize power. There is no end to the danger and mischief they will inflict upon this country. It will be considerable. We will be forced to watch Mr.Bush cowtow to the left, as he has immediately done. It will get worse and worse. Rumsfeld was one of the few conservatives in the adminstration. He will be made a sacrifice, perhaps even unto prsecution. The American public just mobilized to vote would be glad to see it happen. What a tragedy!

I do not see how America will be perceived worldwide other than an ally upon whom another nation cannot depend. Therefore they will act accordingly. Witness Israel. These people are in a very tight spot. This election just told Israel, folks, you are on your on. A nuclear Iran, or Syria. Hell all they need to do is procure a small weapon, and this world is in a nuclear conflagration. If Palastinians or Iranian, or terrorist of any kind acquire a nuclear device, Telaviv will be hit. Israel will unleash all hell against any perceived enemies. There will not be time for discussions and checking with the editorial pages of the New York times. Then, all nations will rise up against Israel. It is ripe for the picking. The islamofascists re a final step away from this very scenario. With the US bugging out, Israel will stand alone, against 1 billion who seek her destruction. AFter Israel responds in an already predetermined decision, that should they be struck with a nuclear device, they will respond in like kind, things will deteriorate across the globe very quickly.

[potlatch]

LOL, I fully agree with Rummy!!

Thanks bitt. I saved it!

[Texas Songwriter]

"A nation can survive its fools and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and he carries his banners openly against the city. But the traitor moves among those within the gates freely, his sly whispers rustling through all alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears no traitor; he speaks in the accents familiar to his victim, and he wears their face and their garments and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul fof a nation; he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of a city; he infects the body politic so that it can no longer sesist. A murderer is less to be feared. The traitor is the plague." _ Marcus Tullius Cicer, Roman Orator -106-43 B.C.

[Cheburashka]

Getting bogged down in Iraq with an undermanned force is the problem. The enterprize should never have been undertaken without a draft or an increase in forces and a force sufficient to complete the mission.
---
First we were talking about China, then Iran, now Iraq. Ooooookay.

I think I've done enough to demonstrate that your antipathy for Rumsfeld is not based on reason, you wouldn't have to keep abandoning your positions and coming up with new ones if it was. And I accept that I cannot reason you out of a position you did not reason yourself into.