Lott: Replace defense chief
By MELISSA M. SCALLAN
BILOXI - U.S. Sen. Trent Lott doesn't believe Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld should resign immediately, but he does think Rumsfeld should be replaced sometime in the next year. "I'm not a fan of Secretary Rumsfeld," Lott, R-Mississippi, told the Biloxi Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday morning. "I don't think he listens enough to his uniformed officers."
[...]
Lott said the United States needs more troops to help with the war. The country also needs a plan to leave Iraq once elections are over at the end of January.
Lott doesn't think Rumsfeld is necessarily the person to carry out that plan.
"I would like to see a change in that slot in the next year or so," Lott said. "I'm not calling for his resignation, but I think we do need a change at some point."
More... (though not much more)
Seems like everyone's after Rummy these last few days, and every day that passes, another Republican joins the scrum to have him canned. McCain, Hagel, Kristol, now Lott... "Et tu George?"
Is Rumsfeld being set up as the fall guy for Iraq, so that Bush can claim innocence when public opinion turns to despair over the situation over there? And if he is, will Rumsfeld fight back, or will he willingly take the fall to keep the Neocon dream alive?