Bush Gives Rumsfeld Strong Show of Support
Despite:
Huffington Post
More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation - New York Times:
"Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr., who led troops on the ground in Iraq as recently as 2004 as the commander of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, on Thursday became the fifth retired senior general in recent days to call publicly for Mr. Rumsfeld's ouster. Also Thursday, another retired Army general, Maj. Gen. John Riggs, joined in the fray.
'We need to continue to fight the global war on terror and keep it off our shores,' General Swannack said in a telephone interview. 'But I do not believe Secretary Rumsfeld is the right person to fight that war based on his absolute failures in managing the war against Saddam in Iraq.'"
Those comments may seem rough, but the real kiss of death came from the administration:
"The president believes Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a very fine job during a challenging period in our nation's history," the White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, told reporters on Thursday.
Arianna Huffington's take
oOo
The Revolt Against Rumsfeld
The officer corps is getting restless.
By Fred Kaplan, Slate.com Wednesday, April 12, 2006
MacArthur's legacy in particular has kept even the boldest generals deeply reluctant to criticize civilian leaders over the decades. Rumsfeld's arrogance, his "casualness and swagger" as Gen. Newbold put it—which have caused so many strategic blunders, so much death and disaster—have started to tip some officers over the edge. They may prove a good influence in the short run. But if Rumsfeld resists their encroachments and fights back, the whole hierarchy of command could implode as officers feel compelled not merely to stay silent but to choose one side or the other. And if the rebel officers win, they might find they like the taste of bureaucratic victory—and feel less constrained to renew the internecine combat when other, less momentous disputes arise in the future.
Both paths are cluttered with drear and danger. Does President Bush know this is going on? If he does, he would do the nation—and the Constitution—a big favor if he launched a different sort of pre-emptive attack and got rid of Rumsfeld now.
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1 comment:
By Ryan D Smith - Apr 14th, 2006 at 8:27 pm EDT
Posted at Midwest Values PAC:
So it seems the "in" thing to do now, upon retiring from the military, is go on television and publicly call for the resignation of U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. So far six retired generals have done this, including former 82nd Airborne Division commander Charles "Chuck" Swannack, speaking to CNN on Thursday.
The retired generals believe Rumsfeld should step down because of his "absolute failures in managing the war against Saddam in Iraq," according to Chuck. Other generals have said Rumsfeld ignored the advice of seasoned military leaders about how to secure post-Saddam Iraq. Still others point out that "U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld" can be rearranged to spell "So, a reddened federal rectum's no-fly fuss!"
The White House, predictably, came out strongly in support of Rumsfeld. "The president believes Secretary Rumsfeld is doing a very fine job during a challenging period in our nation's history," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said at a press briefing Thursday. McClellan refused to comment on reports that "George Walker Bush" could be rearranged to spell "A whore buggers elk."
Bush himself, currently vacationing at Camp David, Maryland, issued a written statement in support of Rumsfeld.
"I have seen first-hand how Don relies upon our military commanders in the field and at the Pentagon to make decisions about how best to complete these missions," the president wrote (in crayon). "Secretary Rumsfeld's energetic and steady leadership is exactly what is needed at this critical period. He has my full support and deepest appreciation."
Bush's statement did not comment on reports that "Camp David, Maryland" can be rearranged to spell "I'd ply a damn VCR, Adam."
Is Bush's statement a genuine show of support for an unfairly beleaguered colleague?
No. No, it's not.
Another of Rumsfeld's ex-military critics, retired major general John Batiste, actually turned down another star in order to get the hell out of the military. Not because he was tired of military life. Because he didn't want to work for Rumsfeld anymore.
"We went to war with a flawed plan that didn't account for the hard work to build the peace after we took down the regime," Batiste told NBC's Today Show. "We also served under a secretary of defense who didn't understand leadership, who was abusive, who was arrogant, and who didn't build a strong team."
Batiste's fellow officers, who, Batiste insists, are not making a coordinated effort to oust the secretary, have echoed this assessment. The recent series of critical statements, Batiste says, is "absolutely coincidental," although in the interests of full disclosure it should be pointed out that "Major General John Batiste" can be rearranged to spell "A hen jeers abnormal tit-jog."
Abnormal tit-jog notwithstanding, it seems obvious that the Bush administration is closing ranks again, refusing to let an embattled member of the good-old-boys club face the music. This stubborn refusal to admit error and almost paranoid secrecy is reminiscent of the Nixon administration, which was of course brought to heel when intrepid journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein revealed, despite hot denials from the White House, that not only could "Richard Milhous Nixon" could be rearranged to spell "A childish minor ox-run," but that "the Watergate scandal" could be rearranged to spell "a tracheated wet glans." Nixon was ultimately hounded from office for his role in covering up the Watergate break-in, trapped by his own taped conversations and his refusal to admit that "G. Gordon Liddy" could be rearranged to spell "Long, giddy rod."
This is precisely what the Bush administration is doing today. No, not coming up with pornographic anagrams for the names of administration officials. That, at least, they leave to semi-professional journalists like me. What the Bush, Rummy, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice ("Once tied, our crazy foes castrate eels!") are doing is closing ranks, refusing to admit colossal errors in judgment, and sitting idly by while the country tears itself apart because of their hubris. Only this is worse than Watergate, because people are dying.
Batiste is right. Swannack is right. Rumsfeld should resign, or he should be fired. Or, ideally, he should be fired, shaven, rubbed with salt, and shot from an air-powered circus cannon into a Dumpster full of thumbtacks and lemon rinds. And after the lacerations heal, he should be forced to personally visit every single person, American and Iraqi, who has lost a Soldier or innocent civilian family member in this damned foolish criminal war, and he should get down on his knees and beg their forgiveness.
We suspected the war was being mishandled. Now we have confirmation, lots of it, from within the military itself. Rumsfeld's pride, his arrogance, his unbelievable pigheadedness, is crippling regular grunts' ability to prosecute this war in the speediest, safest, most humane way possible.
His goddamn pride is killing 18-year-old kids.
And the hell of it is, I honestly don't think that bothers him.
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