After a weekend of partisanship masquerading as concern for the national defense, it is refreshing to have the televised temper tantrums of Joe Biden and company placed in context by reason and logic as in William Safire's column in the New York Times this morning. Much work remains in determining the extent of prisoner abuse in Iraq, uncovering the policies or lack of policies responsible for the abuse, and identifying the parties responsible for the abuse. This serious matter was under investigation before photographs reached the media, and it continues to be taken quite seriously. I am confident that justice will be served and lessons learned. None of which requires or is enhanced by the early resignation of Rumsfeld. Calls for the Secretary of Defense to resign are intended by leftists to embarrass the administration, discredit the liberation of Iraq, and weaken the President's bid for reelection. I concede the possibility that information may surface in the weeks to come that would require Rumsfeld to resign, but we have no such information to date. In the meantime, the Iraq front is too important in the war on terrorism to be used a political football.
Posted by publius at May 10, 2004 07:49 AMAgreed. Critics of Rumsfeld are livin on a prayer that he will resign, thereby disrupting the cabinet in an election year.
However, once again our lack of a postwar plan shows when buck privates are assigned to interrogate prisoners, and take pictures.
Posted by: Bon Jovi at May 10, 2004 01:23 PMI don't think they were assigned to take pictures.
Rumsfield has presided over two victorious wars. Moreover, the parade of horribles, from thousands of American's dead, the rising of the Arab street, environmental catastrophe, have all failed to come to pass. The prison situation while bad is nothing compared to what American troops removed. He has pressed the Defense Dept. hard to remake itself. There is no man now living who could take Rumsfield's place in the half year before the election.
The hatred of Rumsfield among the press, the Democrats and the left in general underlines his effectiveness. Where are the calls for George Tenet and Norm Mineta to resign? The former has been an unending source of suspect information and the latter continues to see the profiling of young Arab men as more a threat to the US than...well young Arab men blowing up planes.
Posted by: john vecchione at May 10, 2004 04:10 PM