{promoted from the diaries with slight edit for clarity by kid o.} Senator Chuck Hagel loses confidence with Rumsfeld.
On Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer today, Chuck Hagel stated he has completely lost confidence in Donald Rumsfeld over his remark to the soldier that "they have to fight with the army they've got."
Hagel stated that he has talked with many returning soldiers and national guardsmen who returned from the war, and they have all told him that they need body and vehicle armor to protect themselves from bullets. He also questioned the honesty of administration officials who were "going around the country reassuring the American people our troops have everything they need."
Hagel characterized Rumsfeld's performance as "incompetent" and refused to endorse him for another 4 years. "Bush has got to live with his choice for the next four years," said Hagel. Some of his remarks are paraphrased below:
"Our soldiers do not deserve such a flippant answer. That might work in a newsroom, where you can be cute, but not with soldiers about to die."
"I wonder what the parents thought?"
"This defense secretary went to war without enough troops. He's dismissed outside advice, he's dismissed inside advice, and he's dismissed the advice of men and women who have been in the military 25 years."
"When I went alone in a room with these returning soldiers, they've been having these complaints about body armor for the last year."
"Administration officials have been going around the country reassuring the American people our troops have had everything they needed."