Iraq: Rumsfeld Cuts And Runs

Jeez—I bet a lot of people who’ve already done two or three tours of duty in Iraq wish they could just resign like Rumsfeld; just walk away from the bloody, endless mess that the Bush administration has created there.

I wonder if Rumsfeld submitted his letter of resignation with a real signature, or with one of those electronic computer signatures he used to inform families that their kid or spouse had been killed in combat?

The Iraqi figures for civilian casualties are about 150,000. Was it worth it to them, to get rid of Saddam? They’re not saying, unless you’ve got a Ouija board that speaks Arabic.

Rumsfeld has carved out a place for himself in U.S. history—as one of the worst military and political minds ever. But what was especially humiliating was the timing of his departure. Less than twenty-four hours after the mid-term elections, the returns from Virginia weren’t even cold yet—and Bush guillotined him.

It looks a bit…unprincipled, doesn’t it? It looks bad; it makes it look as if the administration’s Iraq policy is ultimately dependent on GOP election returns. It makes it look as though Bush would have kept Rummie on as head of the Pentagon and C-in-C in the Iraq War if the GOP had defied the polls and scored an upset win. I mean, unless you’re entirely unprincipled, what do the political fortunes of the GOP have to do with deciding who is the best man to command our troops in Iraq? If that’s the basis of Bush decision making, what sort of signal does that send, not just to the people of the United States, but the people of the world?

President Bush: “Who will command our troops and direct our strategy, in this, the armed struggle between freedom and terror?

"Well, to tell you the truth, it all depends on how the Republican Party does in the mid-term elections this year. If we keep Virginia, Missouri and Montana—Rummie’s still the right man for the job."

"But what’s this? My God, look at these numbers. Don, I told you what was going to happen to you if we lost the Senate! My political debacle obviously means you’re not the fine military mind I always said you were—if Montana went Democrat, you must be--an incompetent!"

"Give me back all those “great military leader” bouquets I’ve thrown in your direction for the past four years! Get out, you asshole, you loser, clear out your desk, you cost me the House and the Senate!"

"No, I will not give you a few weeks’ notice, for the sake of your reputation and mine—get out NOW, before George Allen even gives his concession speech, and don’t let the door hit you in the ass! Run, you mo-fo, run!”