Throwing Rummy from the Train - By Larry Johnson

[kpete]

Throwing Rummy from the Train
By Larry Johnson | bio
Like it or not, Don Rumsfeld's time as Secretary of Defense is running out. The real question is who will be next to step out of the shadows and denounce him. So far, six retired Generals (four Army and two Marines) have stepped up to the microphone to denounce Donald Rumsfeld as an incompetent, failed leader and the list is likely to get longer in the coming days. The list, so far, of retired Generals is impressive (for those non-military folk, a Brigadier General has one star, a Major General has two stars, a Lieutenant General has three stars, and a General has four stars; four stars outranks the others) :

Lt. General Gregory Newbold, (Marine) retired director of operations at the Pentagon’s military joint staff;
Major General Paul D. Eaton (Army);
General Anthony Zinni (Marine) former Commander Central Command
Major General John Batiste (Army)
Major General Charles Swannack (Army)
Major General John Riggs (Army)

Up to this point, President Bush could offer the lie that he was giving the military everything they asked for and no one challenged him. To quote Edgar Allen Poe, "nevermore". The die is now cast for the Republican controlled Congress. The respective heads of the Armed Services Committees, Senator Warner and Congressman Duncan Hunter, now realize that a critical mass of generals has come forward and that Don Rumsfeld has suffered the parliamentary equivalent of a vote of no confidence.

more at:
http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/04/throwing_rummy_.html

1. yey - the generals are calling Rummy out

thank you Larry Johnson.

[saltpoint]

2. Yes. It's not just as hippie-headed liberals but some real sturdy folks

in the Pentagon, past and present. Real players in the real war.

Senator Warner knows the sand's run out of Rumsfeld's glass.

[HereSince1628]

3. We'll see, we'll see. There might just be another campaign in the old war

horse and he and Bush/Cheney can dream of it reversing all their current misfortune.

I fear that fantasy is enough to send B2's into Iran on a very dark night later this month.

[cliss]

4. Notice the timing?

These generals are coming out at a strategic time - they say they haven't discussed this amongst themselves - I think they have. The election season is just getting started. The war is going badly.

As gas prices start to really go up, people will be thinking about who is in charge - the Repubs.

And they won't be happy.

I think it was brilliant to come out in unison - one right after another - like big bombs going off at the Pentagon this week.

And you should know about bombs, right Don?

[ginnyinWI]

5. I wonder who they would/will replace him with?

Be realistic now--it can't be Dennis Kucinich or somebody like that, much as I would like to see him there.

Back in May 2004, when Kerry(again) called for Rumsfeld's resignation, he recommended Sen. McCain, Sen. Warner, or Sen. Carl Levin.
(the first time he called for it I believe was August 2003)

Thoughts? Who would you pick, within the realm of possiblity for a Repub administration?

K&R, by the way. Larry Johnson is great.

[DianaForRussFeingold]

6. "Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war"

"Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war"Donald Rumsfeld "I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started."

"We do know of certain knowledge that he Osama Bin Laden is either in Afghanistan, or in some other country, or dead."Donald Rumsfeld
"I don't know what the facts are but somebody's certainly going to sit down with him and find out what he knows that they may not know, and make sure he knows what they know that he may not know."

"As you know, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time."

"I'm not into this detail stuff. I'm more concepty."

"I don't do quagmires."

"I don't do diplomacy."

"I don't do foreign policy."

"I don't do predictions."

"I don't do numbers."

"I don't do book reviews."

"Now, settle down, settle down. Hell, I'm an old man, it's early in the morning and I'm gathering my thoughts here."

"If I know the answer I'll tell you the answer, and if I don't, I'll just respond, cleverly."

Got a Rumsfeld quote? Email it to [e-mail]

[Neil Lisst]

7. Larry Johnson continues to be one of the best voices out there

[Media_Lies_Daily]

8. K & R.