Donald Rumsfeld is grossly incompetent. Can anyone really argue with this plain and simple fact?
As respected Generals have stood up and called for Rumsfeld's resignation, the central fact of Rumsfeld's INCOMPETENCE has been obscured by the usual BushCo spin: They allege that the Generals either didn't complain or didn't complain loudly enough! Could someone please focus on what these military guys are saying: THEY ARE SAYING RUMSFELD IS INCOMPETENT TO RUN THE U.S. MILITARY. How can the media get sidetracked by the issue of whether these officers should've resigned or not? IS RUMSFELD COMPETENT OR NOT? THAT'S THE DAMN QUESTION!
The issue of whether Rumsfeld should be fired isn't a partisan or political one. The answer doesn't hinge on whether you believe the Iraq War was right or wrong, whether you're a Democrat or Republican, a liberal or conservative, pacifist or pro-military. This is a straight up-and-down issue of COMPETENCE. Forget Guantanamo for now. Forget the lies leading up to the war for the moment. The critical issues right now are: 1) Based on Rumsfeld's performance over the past six years, has he effectively discharged his duties? and 2) Is this the guy we want in charge of our military given the challenges we face over the coming years?
On a purely objective basis, the answer to those two questions is a resounding "NO". I defy any wingnut to tell me why Rumsfeld's ass shouldn't be yanked out of there. Even a person who sincerely believes we should go in and disable Iran's potential nuclear capabilities wouldn't want Rumsfeld planning the operation: It'd be like hiring Dr. Kervorkian to perform your open heart surgery. Who would let Rumsfeld plan a wedding reception much less undertake something as incredibly explosive (pun intended) as Iran? These are the questions the media morons should be asking on the Sunday talk shows: Does anyone really want Rumsfeld running things in Iraq anymore? Does anyone really want Rumsfeld in charge of planning a military strike against Iran? If Americans aren't scared enough by all the Iran talk, confronting them with the reality of Rumsfeld in charge of it will make them (excuse the language) shit in their pants!!!!!
Getting rid of Rumsfeld is clearly in the best interest of our country and our troops. Biden and other Democrats who've called for Rumsfeld's resignation should make the case again, stressing the non-partisan nature of this critical issue. Rumsfeld is a dangerously incompetent lunatic!! Get him out of there before he does one more day's worth of damage!! The sheer shock and drama of Rumsfeld's forced resignation will cause a massive reaction in the country: Bush may be forced by non-nutcase Republicans to put somebody competent in there. Hell, it's worth a shot since the whole freakin' future of the country and the world is at stake!
For anyone who wants an amazingly thorough account of Rumsfeld's incompetence, take a look at these two New York articles by George Packer, a guy who was originally in favor of the war, one from late 2003 here and one from two weeks ago here [http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/060410fa_fact2. Not only does Packer have the bureaucratic backstory down cold, he goes to great length to tell about what's going on from the perspective of some pretty great U.S. soldiers and many Iraqis. (A word to the wingnuts -- watch out, these articles are pretty long and will seriously strain your limited attention span.)
For those wingnuts unwilling to face the truth, below are a few nuggets from Packer's article. In case the wingnuts are wondering why the Generals are so mad, it's pretty damn clear to people who READ that Rumsfeld's arrogant incompetence has DIRECTLY led to the death of thousands of heroic US soldiers who risked their lives for their country. A few of Rumsfeld's "boo-boo's":
1) Failure to develop an effective post-war transition plan prior to the invasion (see pages 3-6 of the first Packer article -- my favorite part is where Rumsfeld forces the ouster of the coordinator of the State Dept.'s "Future of Iraq" project from the hastily slapped-together Iraq transition team...... because he was asking too many tough questions!!).
2) Failure to ensure that American forces secured key infrastructure necessary to keep Iraq functioning after the combat period. (Yep, Rummy, it wasn't that General Shinseki likes to have lots of guys to hang out with, it's that he had a lot of jobs for the soldiers to do. Also, there seems to have been very little effective coordination of available personnel for this critical task -- see pages 6-7 of the first Packer article for a description of the somewhat "Laurel and Hardy-like" approach to securing key Baghdad sites.)
3) Failure to react to reality on the ground. Arrogantly clinging to his insane "gameplan" (flowers thrown at feet, Chalabi greeted as homecoming hero), Rumsfeld did not take effective action when it was clear things were quickly spiraling out of control.
4) Failure to ensure that the military developed a comprehensive counter-insurgency plan. Giving Rumsfeld every benefit of the doubt (i.e., that insurgency/sectarian strife was not foreseeable -- ha!) he failed to react when it developed, with the result that American forces "improvised" a response as they struggled along: General Petraeus, leading the 101st Airborne in the north, improvised a "hearts-and-minds" civilian-centric strategy while General Swannack, leading the 82nd Airborne in the west, carried out a "hard-ass" kill-all-the bad-guys strategy. (The second Packer article provides a gut-wrenching account of all that went wrong in '03-'04).
Surprisingly (at least to me), Packer concludes in his second article that Rummy is now in the process of "cutting-and-running" in Iraq. He quotes a State Department official headed to Baghdad as being told by a colleague, "That big sucking sound you'll hear is D.O.D moonwalking out of Iraq as fast as it can go". Packer foresees utter disaster with Rumsfeld overseeing the "exit strategy" (i.e., it will be done as stupidly as is humanely possible given that Rumsfeld will be in charge of it).
One last thing. Rumsfeld is a dangerously incompetent lunatic. Call your Congressman and your Senators and echo the Generals' calls for Rumsfeld's resignation. Write letters to the TV news shows and your local paper. When you do, quote the words of the Generals since they have more impact than any Democratic politician could ever have. Here are some good ones from General Gregory Newbold, a courageous officer of the United States military and a true patriot:
"The cost of flawed leadership continues to be paid in blood. The willingness of our forces to shoulder such a load should make it a sacred obligation for civilian and military leaders to get our defense policy right."
RUMFELD MUST GO. HE MUST GO NOW.
Newbold's statement:
General Eaton's statement:
[http://www.iht.com/...
General Batista:
[http://www.commondreams.org/...]
General Joulwan on CNN:
[http://transcripts.cnn.com/...]
Can't find General Zinni's..........