Rumsfeld may need to leave - soon

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Donald H Rumsfeld. For all that he has done in his many years of service to this nation - not the least of which is his prior service as a Naval aviator and flight instructor in his younger years - we should all be grateful to him. On his second tour as SecDef, Rumsfled has forced the Army into a long-overdue transformation from a service that was still preparing to battle Soviet tanks on the planes of Germany into a lean, swift lethal rapid response team. There is still much to be done, and the Army continues to lag years behind the other services in this transition, but not from lack of effort on Secretary Rumsfeld's part.

All that said, the time may fast be approaching when Don Rumsfeld may have to take that long, last walk into the sunset. Iraq, that troubled nation we "liberated" over a year ago, is a mess. Now, I am not some wide-eyed fool who believes that spreading democracy is easy. Frankly, I'm not fully on board with the whole concept (I would much rather have the 2000 GWB - "We don't do no stinking nation-building" - model, but that's not about to happen). However, I can be persuaded that in the post-9/11 world, it is essential that we change the dynamic of the situation on the ground in Southwest Asia.

Besides, we had a perfectly good warrant to go after Saddam Hussien. For all the Monday-morning quarterbacking about the lack of WMD stockpiles so far found in Iraq - a nation roughly the size of California, remember - a simple fact remains: everyone, and I mean everyone, KNEW, beyond any doubt, that Saddam was in possession of WMD at some time prior to the war. That said, the burden was never on us to prove that Saddam was in possession of WMD. Rather, the burden was on Saddam to prove that he disposed of the stuff. So, we had a perfectly good warrant to kick-in his door and search his pad for illegal stuff. That we eliminated the Hussain crime family and pinched the old-man on prior charges is a bonus. This was all done (for the most part) flawlessly - it was well planned and nearly perfectly executed.

However, everything that has happened since has been a mess. Though the Administration will not admit it in public, it is painfully obvious that there was no plan in place for the sort of terrorist uprising our troops are dealing with, and frankly the SecDef's schtick is starting to get a little tired. You can only be blunt so many times before it starts to sound like arrogance. I fear that we're at that juncture.

My feelings on this are rather well summed up in a brief email conversation I had with a local radio talk show host of some note. His name is Jay Severin, the afternoon drive-time host on WTKK in Boston. Jay has forgotten more about politics than I could ever hope to know - having run national campaigns, including for President, over a 25-year career as a political opperative. Those of you outside the Boston area can catch Jay periodically on the Imus in the Morning program on MSNBC (both of you watching it) and on your morning radio. Anyway, his feelings seem to dovetail with my own - for what that's worth.

Jon:
Exceptionally well stated, bud.
I am inclined to agree.
My experience teaches me that, once someone becomes too much of a target - whether or not it is fair or justified - he, by definition, becomes a drag on the admn/agenda.
Thanks for the thoughts.
Cheers,'
JS

-----Original Message-----
From: Jonathan Arata [mailto:jonarata@verizon.net]
Sent: Thursday, December 16, 2004 6:18 PM
To: Jay Severin
Subject: Does Rumsfeld have to go?


Jay,



I know you don’t like to engage in back-room speculation regarding the comings-and-goings of Administration officials, but I’m wondering if you believe (as I do) that there is going to come a time (probably right after the Jan 30 Iraqi “elections”) when Rumsfeld is either going to develop some sort of medical condition that would cause him to resign or (if he won’t leave voluntarily) Bush will have to throw him under the bus.



We’re already starting to see grumbling from nominal Republicans like McCain and Hagel, now we can add ex-Majority Leader/Cheerleader Trent Lott and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristoll to the mix. My sense is that if the perception among Iraq Folly supporters on the right begins to feel that Rummy is either too big a distraction to the “success” of the “mission” or is an outright hindrance, then Bush will have little choice than to let him go.



This is not to say that I don’t admire Rumsfeld and all he’s done – quite the opposite. But sooner rather than later, it may be time for him to leave before he starts to become the lodestone the Dem/Lamestream-Media/Academia cabal attempts to hang around Bush’s neck next.



Cheers,



Jon

Canton