WP
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld today rejected calls to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq, saying that would be a “mistake” because it would send a “lifeline to terrorists.”
Testifying before a tense Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, Rumsfeld also rejected a senator’s claim that the Iraq war had become a quagmire, saying that was “fundamentally inconsistent with the facts.”
Rumsfeld insisted that success in Iraq “cannot be defined by domestic tranquility.” Rumsfeld’s comments came on a bloody day in Iraq, when seven car bombs killed more than three dozen people in Shiite Muslim neighborhoods in Baghdad over a 10-hour period between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
“Any who say we are losing this war are wrong,” Rumsfeld told congressional Democrats demanding answers about the future of U.S. troops in Iraq. “We are not.”
Later in the hearing, Army Gen. John Abizaid, top U.S. commander in the Middle East, seemed to contradict recent statements by Vice President Dick Cheney that the Iraqi insurgency was in its “last throes.”
“I believe there are more foreign fighters coming into Iraq than there were six months ago,” Abizaid said. “There’s a lot of work to be done against the insurgency.”
Citing what he called “gross errors and mistakes” in the U.S. military campaign in Iraq, Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) asked Rumsfeld if it wasn’t time for him to resign.
“I’ve offered my resignation to the president twice,” Rumsfeld shot back, adding that President Bush decided not to accept it. “That’s his call.”
More than 1,700 U.S. troops have lost their lives in Iraq and pressure
I don’t know how Ted- The Big Dig- Kennedy can have the balls to call for Rumsfelds resignation. That being said, I am glad to see that they aren’t giving a timetable. It would be counter productive to do so.
I just watched this interview and CSPAN. When Rumsfeld denied it was a quagmire, Kennedy promptly reinforced that it was and quipped he added the testimony of some general from June 31. Another Senator (from Alabama IIRC) promptly asked Abazaid and two other generals for their opinion and they all 3 agreed with Rumsfeld that it wasn’t a quagmire.
It was fun to watch Kennedy squirm.
Ted
Ted
2-I saw him stumble on his words and lose his place in a written speech (3 weeks ago) he actually said DER outloud.
4, if anyone needs to resign, it is Ted Kennedy.
This is not concern for the troops he was displaying. This was a political move to use during the elections. They are trying to make this look like Vietnam because it is about the only thing they can do collectively.
if anyone knows about people being trapped with no hope of escape….it’s Ted Kennedy.
2-Ted I saw the clip! They discussed the fact that he reads scripts and probably shouldn’t. Someone should let him know that June is one of those months that hath 30 days:razz:
I like Rumsfeld, probably one of the best politicians on the scene today.
We are going to be in Afghanistan and Iraq for some time to come, and thats fine with me. Until those countries have organized themselves and start to see the tangible benefits of the new administrations they are going to need a strong presence, otherwise there will be a coup and 10 years down the line we will be right back where we started.
8, that is precisely why Kennedy and his fellow fifth columnists want Rummy out. He’s honest and effective and they can’t have that after the ineffectiveness of Les Aspin and Bill Cohen under Clinton. The Wisconites here are very familiar with that pansy Aspin.
Difficult for me to comment on Clintons administration, I was not here but for the last few months, and to be honest had more important things on my plate. Rumsfeld just strikes a cord for me, I don’t know if I trust him entirely, he always seems to me that he might rob me blind but tell me about it as he’s doing it.
10, Les Aspin, DOD Secretary under Clinton, former Congressman from WI. He was the one who denied the US contingent armored vehicles for the Somalia mission. The result was “Blackhawk Down”. We had to beg the Pakistanis and Indian for armor support that came too late because the Indians and Pakistanis had their guns trained on each other rather than the mission.
never watched the film, nor followed the events, don’t think we were involved, certainly not to the extent that I would be familiar with the underlings.
on the Pakistani’s and Indians being on the same mission, that was a screw up!
12, yes it was a total screw up. Two of our soldiers were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for their actions in saving the pilot of the downed chopper. The CMH is on par with the Victoria Cross, except most of the CMH awards are posthumously.
13, this incident also illustrates the fallacies of Liberal/Progressive military thought. Aspin refused the request for armor because he didn’t want to offend the Somalis and he didn’t want our forces to overmatch the Somali warlords’ forces.
Well, the first folly of liberal military might is that it only seems to be used against politically correct enemies..you know, that fearsome serbian army..the branch davidians….elian gonzales’ family…..
yikes.
Having not much knowledge of this particular instance it is difficult for me to argue with you, but there is merit in the use of the military that doesn’t involve overwhelming force.
16, I like Patton’s theory on how to handle the enemy: “Grab them by the nose and kick ‘em in the ass!”
Me too, but there are subtlties in war some situations require different tactics, second guessing those in charge is a futile game, just like those critisizing the current administration for the lack of an exit strategy or post war plan, War is an inexact science.
16, problem was Aspin commited the mortal sin of committing to few and to underequipt forces. Sort of like sending in two British regulars into an IRA neighborhood armed with only a single Browning 9mm HiPower pistol. Neither man was familar with the pistol and it’s quirks. An IRA man grabed the gun away from them while they were being mobbed, corrected the fault, (Tap, Rack, Bang! for those aquainted with firearms.) and killed the regulars with a single shot to the head each.
18, only in the current situation the analogy would be Chamberlain deriding Churchill for no exit stategy, etc. during the Battle of the Bulge.
The “Nuke the bastards” war plan obviously does great things for the ego and machismo of the person claiming it as a soloution, but is seldom practical in the real world.
20 – except that the battle of the bulge was an enemy initiated action and so bears no comparison what so ever… other than that you have a point:wink:
21.
seemed to work with Japan.
As far as I am conceded the exit strategy is working just fine. We are not exiting until things quieten down. We knew that this was a long haul operation , not a flash in the pan like last time, look to the original gulf war for an example of what an early exit strategy achieved.
23 to end the war of all wars. doesn’t mean we should nuke Somalia.
If anything, the first gulf war represented an effort at protecting oil flow in the gulf, and not this one….though saddam certainly helped with his dunderheaded move of invading Kuwait.
25.
I’m not so sure…you see, we won world war II because the enemy was ruthless, and did not give a shit about civilian casualties….and neither did we.
Now we are at war with anohter ruthless enemy who not only dosen’t give a shit about civilian casualties, but they are the PRIMARY TARGET!
we need to not be so squeamish….this is a battle for civilization itself.. if islamofacism is not crushed, stamped out, obliterated, darkness will sweep across the entire globe.