April 2006 Archives
With what seems like every retired general who can draw breath coming forward to dump on Donald Rumsfeld, it hardly seems necessary or fair for me to t o add to the chorus of dissent. Of course, I’ve never let that stop me in the past so why start changing now?
At the a press conference Gen. Peter Pace defended the Secretary of Defense by saying:
“Nobody, nobody works harder than he does to take care of the P.F.C.’s and lance corporals and lieutenants and the captains. He does his homework. He works weekends, he works nights.
“People can question my judgment or his judgment,” he continued, “but they should never question the dedication, the patriotism and the work ethic of Secretary Rumsfeld.”
It is very likely that Donald Rumsfeld, the president, and the rest of the government and military are all very patriotic Americans. But is it right to argue that we should not ask for more than patriotism and dedication and long weekends? Those traits are no substitute for good judgement and correct choices, no matter how noble. If the military command was and is being ignored and Rumsfeld, as is obvious to me, cannot improve the situation through his decisions, then it is time for him to go.
Things in Iraq have been bungled and mismanaged, according to at least six retired generals. They use words like “casualness”, “swagger”, “wrongheaded”, and “arrogant” to describe Rumsfeld and the prosecution of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. I don’t see evidence to cause em to disagree. What I do see is a president unwilling to admit he was wrong and to take every conceivable step necessary to correct his mistake. What I see is a president who says we must support our troops, and then denies them the leadership that may prove more valuable and efficacious than all the body armor in the world.
Donald Rumsfeld, et al. may be a patriot, but the rest of us patriots want someone who is more than talk and swagger.
The cutest baby on the planet, now with three weeks added.
For those of you who don’t live in New York, it was a beautiful Spring day yesterday and so Baby and I decided to visit Central Park to enjoy the weather. While throwing the frisbee around, I accidentally pegged a passerby in the shin with a soccer ball. I don’t do sports, people. This is why.
