Rumsfeld Still Doesn't Get It
Rumsfeld Still Doesn't Get It
Written by Sheldon
Sunday September 3, 2006 at 7:06 pm
Category: Iraq
I was saddened, if not surprised, the other day to see Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld playing such blatant politics with a war for whose mismanagement and failures he bears much of the responsibility. At a speech before the American Legion's national convention last week, Rumsfeld called opponents of the Bush administration's failed Iraq policy victims of "moral or intellectual confusion" who were trying to "appease" a "new type of fascism."
Right. If Rumsfeld really believes that demonizing rational opponents of the war - rather than coming up with a responsible exit strategy - is the sensible thing to do here, that's reason enough for the Secretary to get a pink slip.
But then Rumsfeld took it a step farther. In a letter to Democratic Congressional leaders Friday, he had the audacity to politely invite those who have criticized him and called for his removal (among whom I'm proud to count myself) to retract our indictment of his failures of leadership. "I know you agree that with America under attack and U.S. troops in the field, our national debate on this should be constructive," he wrote.
"Constructive?"
Rumsfeld's own comments and actions fail this test. From manipulated intelligence, to stubborn unwillingness to build a broader international coalition, to the failure to properly equip and protect our troops to the blind refusal to articulate a strategy for withdrawal, nothing about the Bush administration's conduct of this war has been constructive.
I'm disappointed that Lincoln Chafee has refused to join me in calling for Rumsfeld to step down. One of the most compelling arguments why we must win a Democratic majority in the Senate this year is the absolute necessity to stand up and hold this administration - from the President to his appointees - accountable for its colossal failures. That's the Senate's job. If I'm elected, I'll be proud to do it.
http://www.whitehouseforsenate.com/index.php