With all the hoopla about generals calling for Rummy to resign, I broke it down this way:
The guy is a failure, but forcing him out would be an admission of his failure. We can't do that because if we admit he's a failure, then the President is a failure. If we say the President is a failure then we are providing aid and comfort to our enemies so... the generals calling for Rumsfeld's resignation are traitors!
Now I was
kidding when I said that, but apparently I lack imagination, because that is where this is going...
Here's the latest salvo Rumsfeld's swiftly assembled team of defenders aimed at Marine Corps Gen. Zinni and Lt. Gen. Newbold:
"It unfortunately appears that two of the retired generals (Messrs. Zinni and Newbold) do not understand the true nature of this radical ideology, Islamic extremism, and why we fight in Iraq. We suggest they listen to the tapes of United 93."
OH SNAP!!! OH NO YOU DIDN'T .... Take away their stars AND call them French!!!! THEN compare them unfavorably to a band of civilians led by a gay rugby player!!!
You read that right.... Rummy's boys are saying these MARINES are pansies and they DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY WE'RE FIGHTING!!! Hoooo Boy! This is going to get uglier before it's over. What's next? "Zinni is such a pussy, his momma lends him out when she's tired"? I got $20 says Michelle Malkin says it first.
Now everyone is talking about the recently retired generals calling for his resignation. And they keep focusing the coverage on the charge that Rummy didn't listen to people. Ok. Maybe they don't like it when folks weigh in after the fact. No one likes an armchair general, right? Well what about the generals who argued against invading Iraq before we marched off the cliff?
I'm talking about these terrorist sympathizing, clueless surrender monkeys:
Gen. Clark (Supreme Allied Commander, NATO)
Gen. Hoare (Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command)
Gen. Schwartzkopf (Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command)
Gen. Scowcroft (National Security Advisor)
Gen. Shalikashvili (Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff)
Gen. Shelton (Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff)
Gen. Shinseki (Army Chief of Staff)
Gen. Jones, (Marine Commandant)
Gen. McPeak, (Air Force Chief of Staff)
Gen. Zinni, (Commander in Chief, U.S. Central Command)
I don't hear anyone mentioning them. I guess they want to focus on guys who are merely two and three star generals, because you can always trot out Myers or Pace to outrank them. How convenient. We'll come back to these critics later.
Earlier today, Bush weighed in again, declaring he is "the decider," its his job to "decide what is best" and he thinks Rummy is doing a "fine job." I'm assuming this is all faith-based because he doesn't offer any evidence to support any of those contentions.
But... here come the wingnuts commenting on The Drudge Report. This was my favorite exchange:
"Why do these generals hate America so much"
Retired Generals pal.
If they loved America and the military they never would have left in the first place.
Before we invaded, generals were opposed for tactical, strategic, and legal reasons. Here's the Reader's Digest of the legal argument: They knew the invasion of Iraq did not pass the commonly accepted legal test for necessity and proportionality in self-defense as first articulated by Daniel Webster in the case of the "Caroline" ... the gold standard for deciding self-defense.
Now general's have a new concern. When Condi says that "thousands of tactical mistakes were made," they know what that means. It means "we gave the commanders on the ground free reign to do as they saw fit, and they screwed the pooch." It means, "we can't beat up on the CIA right now so you guys will have to take a few lumps for the team." It means, "if war crimes were committed it was committed by the guys on the ground."
Them's fightin' words. EJ Dionne is right to point out this is bigger than Rumsfeld. I don't care what Rummy says on Limbaugh...this is not going to blow over any time soon.
Speaking of storm clouds...This just in: Bush used the same Rose Garden event to also let folks know he has decided that "all options are on the table" with regard to Iran. So all the people who argued that going in to Iraq was a dangerous distraction from the real threat of international terrorism...move to the back of the line.
I guess the solution to this problem is going to be simple. If it is wrong to criticize a Secretary of Defense during time of war, it is even more wrong during a time of nuclear war. Hmmm... I really hope that is not why Rumsfeld thinks this is all going to blow over.
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The only generals who support the Bush Doctrine:
General Electric and General Dynamics.