Rumsfeld Resign? That Is The Wrong Guy

Posted on September 26, 2006

The Washington Post is reporting on three fellow Officers who are demanding that Secretary Rumsfeld resign:

Three retired military officers who served in Iraq called today for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, telling a Democratic “oversight hearing” on Capitol Hill that the Pentagon chief bungled planning for the U.S. invasion, dismissed the prospect of an insurgency and sent American troops into the fray with inadequate equipment.

The testimony by the three –two retired Army major generals and a former Marine colonel — came a day after disclosure of a classified intelligence assessment that concluded the war in Iraq has fueled recruitment of violent Islamic extremists, helping to create a new generation of potential terrorists around the world and worsening the U.S. position.

There has been continuous argument in the uniformed community, in particualr at Staff/War College level, if there were too few or too many troops sent to Iraq. Yes, there is a large group that is in the “too many” camp. Myself, I subscribe to the camp that we had the right number. However, because of the debate that we are having amongst ourselves, I have no animosity to those that I disagree with.

Regardless, my brother officers are “demanding” the resignation of the wrong guy. The success or failure of Iraq belongs solely to the Commander of Central Command, his staff (which is huge) and the Staff/War Colleges that contributed to the debate.

I have no problem if my uniformed brothers are asking that someone fall on their sword. Hell, it happens quite a bit in our community. However, they need to get the right to persons to do it and at this point in time that person is not Secretary Rumsfeld. As both Staff and War College graduates they should know this.

If we currently have too few troops in Iraq, and we (the uniformed community) agree on that, the responsability is solely that of John Abizaid and a significant portion of his staff down through the Field Grade ranks.

If there is a problem of troop levels, it will not be fixed by a new Secretary because the man and his staff that came up with the numbers will still be there. If these soldiers are not competent, they should be removed from the service and I would not argue with that.

» Filed Under News, War On Terror

Trackback URL

Comments

2 Responses to “Rumsfeld Resign? That Is The Wrong Guy”

WFBerry on September 26th, 2006 2:52 pm

Retired Generals, especially one who turned down promotion to retire early, should simply SHUT UP! There IS a chain of command, and CIVILIANS are in CHARGE of our military for a Constitutional reason! While there may have been too few troops, the invasion succeeded much easier than ANYONE expected. To win the peace we need to empower Iraqi Civilian government, not be OCCUPIERS - see the USSR experience in Afghanistan!
Sour grapes by ex-generals should not even be allowed to see the light of the media - especially when they don’t like Rumsfeld because he wants our forces lighter and more mobile! If Rumsfeld had been given the support he deserved we would have seven or eight of the highly effective Stryker Brigades in Iraq now, instead of ONE!
kerwin_brown on September 27th, 2006 6:17 am

I do not believe our military has enough extra troops to put any more in Iraq. Rumsfeld has increased the duration of several units’ rotation to Iraq but that has the unpleasant side effect of deterioration of a unit’s effectiveness as stress takes its toll. The army has had trouble recruiting soldiers to replace those lost to various forms of attrition.