Comments on: Don Rumsfeld Staying on as Defense Secretary

By: SFC Ski

SFC Ski — Sat, 04 Dec 2004 12:03:21 +0000

Rumsfeld is a mixed blessing for the military. ONe one hand it DOES take a strong tenacious SecDef with a vision and will to transform the hidebound bureacracy that is the Pentagon; one the other hand, Rumsfeld and his cronies may know management and buiness models but they do not know warfighting, and that is the downside of Rumsfeld and his supporters involvement as Secretary of Defense. He was wrong not wrong on the strategy of fighting the Iraq War, but he was wrong in using his (and his advisor's) assessment of post-war IRaq, and the actions he took by following that assessment have hampered the warfighters on the ground.
IN short, Rumsfeld is right to oppose the generals when they want to continue to prepare to fight the Cold War over and over again in the future, but he is wrong to ignore their advice when it comes to fighting a conflict here and now.

By: Attila Girl

Attila Girl — Sat, 04 Dec 2004 08:35:20 +0000

Bush, of course, rarely lets the stubborn facts of reality impede his own delusional lofty notion of one the most tragic examples of ideologically-driven ineptitude the world has seen in the past half-century.

By: Kappiy

Kappiy — Sat, 04 Dec 2004 00:00:24 +0000

I think the folks suggesting the Bush's confidence in Rumsfeld was waning are those distraught military brass who are having to implement his radical policies.

It was clear that Rumsfeld's departure would have been interpreted by many as a recognition that the Iraq quagmire has been a failure. Bush, of course, rarely lets the stubborn facts of reality impede his own delusional lofty notion of one the most tragic examples of ideologically-driven ineptitude the world has seen in the past half-century.