Is there anyone left in the military that does support Rumsfeld. Today another General in the
WashingtonPost comes out against Rumsfeld, following Newbold's piece in Time earlier this week.
This is also no ordinary General..
Batiste's comments resonate especially within the Army: It is widely known there that he was offered a promotion to three-star rank to return to Iraq and be the No. 2 U.S. military officer there but he declined because he no longer wished to serve under Rumsfeld. Also, before going to Iraq, he worked at the highest level of the Pentagon, serving as the senior military assistant to Paul D. Wolfowitz, then the deputy secretary of defense.
Joining a longer and longer list Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste called for Rumsfeld to resign.
The retired commander of key forces in Iraq called yesterday for Donald H. Rumsfeld to step down, joining several other former top military commanders who have harshly criticized the defense secretary's authoritarian style for making the military's job more difficult.
And it looks like the list could get even longer if people actually decide to start speaking their minds
Another retired officer, Army Maj. Gen. John Riggs, said he believes that his peer group is "a pretty closemouthed bunch" but that, even so, his sense is "everyone pretty much thinks Rumsfeld and the bunch around him should be cleared out."
He emphatically agrees, Riggs said, explaining that he believes Rumsfeld and his advisers have "made fools of themselves, and totally underestimated what would be needed for a sustained conflict."
I would love to be a fly on the wall in the next Defense Deaprtment meeting between Rumsfeld and the Generals. I wonder when one of the currently serving ones will have the balls to make to point in person, instead of waiting to retire first. Or, maybe we haven't been able to hear the screaming from outside the Pentagon.