(If this was blogged about, let me know and I'll delete it ASAP)
Aside from the fact that John Kerry kind of started this whole thing, which was a total farce from the beginning, it's interesting to see the Boehner angle getting picked up now. Earlier today, I know I saw it towards the top of the headlines over on CNN but just now, on a recent visit to Crooks and Liars, I came across this:
Ruh-Ro, George
In the wake of Sen. John Kerry's belated apology for offending troops deployed in Iraq, House Majority Leader Rep. John Boehner of Ohio is being asked by Democrats to apologize for seemingly blaming senior military officers for any problems with the Bush administration's Iraq strategy.
Boehner, however, does not appear to be budging.
"Good try," he said when asked about demands for an apology.
In a Wednesday appearance on CNN, Boehner was asked for his view on Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the U.S. policy in Iraq.
...
"We're fighting an enemy that's unconventional, and this has become the central front in our war with al-Qaida," Boehner said. "Al-Qaida continues to bring people into Iraq to let off these bombs, to stir up sectarian violence and we're always having to adapt on the ground."
Rumsfeld, Boehner said, has been pushing the military to transform, but the uniformed military leaders have resisted.
"You have to understand that the generals who have been in charge of the Pentagon have been very resistant to change," Boehner said. "It's the younger generals who understand this new force structure that we need to have for the military of the 21st century.
Oh I see. So the
seasoned career military personnel simply don't understand the new force structure because they're old? Is that what Boehner is trying to say? Well, based on that logic, isn't it far time for Rummy to go? What is he, like 134 years old?
Turnabout is fair play in my book. And as C&L points out via Hoffmania:
This is being reported in ALL the Military Times outlets (Army Times, Navy Times, etc.). You know. Something the troops see every day.
Bet the morale is just bubbling over among 'em now, eh? When they read that the Republican House Majority Leader, who helped start the war, is blaming their commanders on the ground and not Rumsfeld for how it's going, they're going to just hate the Democrats, right? Uh-huh.