Sidney Blumenthal has a
pretty explosive story posted in Salon just a bit ago:
Former President George H.W. Bush waged a secret campaign over several months early this year to remove Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The elder Bush went so far as to recruit Rumsfeld's potential replacement, personally asking a retired four-star general if he would accept the position, a reliable source close to the general told me. But the former president's effort failed, apparently rebuffed by the current president. When seven retired generals who had been commanders in Iraq demanded Rumsfeld's resignation in April, the younger Bush leapt to his defense. "I'm the decider and I decide what's best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain," he said. His endorsement of Rumsfeld was a rebuke not only to the generals but also to his father.
Besides the obvious indictment (as if we needed more) of Rumsfeld's performance, what does this say about Dubya and relations with his family? We already knew his relations with his father were strained, but his father had been pretty careful not to get caught meddling in Dubya's presidency.
This story will, of course, be seen by the wingnuts as part of an ongoing campaign by disgruntled ex-generals to discredit Rumsfeld and American policy in Iraq, but if this story gets any mainstream play and sticks, I can't see how Rummy could stay on the job after being torpedoed by Bush the Elder.
If you're not a Salon Premium subscriber (you should be), you can read the story after viewing an ad. It's worth it.