MSNBC: Armitage defends ‘lightning rod’ Rumsfeld..."it must be hard"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6738873/

Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld “is a bit of a lightning rod these days” and suggested in an interview with NBC News that for the embattled secretary of defense, “it must be hard to get up and go to work.”

Armitage, who spoke with NBC News' Campbell Brown on Monday, admits he was “surprised” by Rumsfeld's response to a National Guardsman's concerns about U.S. military armor. Armitage defended both Rumsfeld and the soldier.

Speaking of the growing chorus of bipartisan congressional complaints about Rumsfeld, Armitage said, “I think they have a lot of questions, and they have their important questions and they deserve to be answered, and the secretary of defense is going to try and answer them.”

Armitage admitted he was “very surprised” by a question from a Tennessee National Guardsman who wanted more information about the lack of armor. “I was very surprised that the soldier didn't have the armor, and I was very surprised at the answer,” he said. “I think I question what our leaders in the field, the officers who are preparing to lead these men into battle, have been doing if they're going into battle without the equipment that they need then someone should be talking about it,” Armitage said. “The president of the United States has made it very clear, our soldiers are going to get what they need to do the job that we ask of them.”

[proud patriot]

1. You'd think they would tire of making excuses

:shrug:

[TheFarseer]

2. The only bad thing about "Rummy under siege" is

it gives president assface a scapegoat, when it's his stupid fault that we invaded Iraq in the 1st place resulting in the predictable disaster that we have now. What is anyone who replaces Rummy honestly going to do to dramatically affect our Iraq policy? - Keep in mind Rummy's replacement will not be someone that will do things right, it will be someone that bush nominates.