Herbert: The Rumsfeld Stain

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/23/opinion/23herbert.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

How does Donald Rumsfeld survive as defense secretary?

Much of what has happened to the military on his watch has been catastrophic. In Iraq, more than 1,600 American troops have died and many thousands have been maimed in a war that Mr. Rumsfeld mishandled from the beginning and still has no idea how to win. The generals are telling us now that the U.S. is likely to be bogged down in Iraq for years, and there are whispers circulating about the possibility of "defeat."

Potential recruits are staying away from the armed forces in droves. Most Americans want no part of the administration's hapless venture in Iraq. A woman in Connecticut with two college-age sons said to me recently: "My boys should die in Baghdad? For what?"

Parents from coast to coast are going out of their way to dissuade their children from joining the military. Recruiters, desperate and in many cases emotionally distraught after repeatedly missing their monthly goals, began abandoning admission standards and signing up individuals who were physically, mentally or morally unfit for service.

[Hello_Kitty]

1. abandoning admission standards

and signing up individuals who were physically, mentally or morally unfit for service.

Oh great. That'll make things so much better...

[Spinzonner]

2. And what's wrong with the soldiers matching their leaders

in the administration ?

[Hello_Kitty]

3. I'm thinking of the poor innocent civilians they'll meet over there. n/t

[Demeter]

4. It's Not Just A Rumsfeld Stain

The stain is darkest on Bush, who put this clown in power and won't take him out, then flows over the House and Senate: the GOP members for not responding, the Democrats for not making a ferment and fuss.

And then, since those chosen to represent us don't fulfill their duties, it dribbles over all of us, who need to chastize these miserable failures. But we hesitate at the ultimate correction: revolution, because unlike our "betters" we are a cautious and reasonable people, who don't believe in blood and death and waste as a means to an end.

[rodeodance]

5. he pulls no punches with the 'few bad apples'

The insurgency in Iraq appeared to take Mr. Rumsfeld completely by surprise. He expected to win the war in a walk. Or, perhaps, a strut.

Now the military is in a fix. Many of the troops have served multiple tours in Iraq and are weary. The insurgency remains strong, and the Iraq military has proved to be a disappointing ally.

A senior American officer, quoted last week in The Times, said that while he still believed the effort in Iraq would succeed, it could take "many years."

As if all this were not enough, there is also the grotesque and deeply shameful issue that will always be a part of Mr. Rumsfeld's legacy - the manner in which American troops have treated prisoners under their control in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. There is no longer any doubt that large numbers of troops responsible for guarding and interrogating detainees somehow loosed their moorings to humanity, and began behaving as sadists, perverts and criminals..........

[indepat]

6. My RW 1st cousins will surely keep their precious progeny out of the draft

although they support every policy initiative, action, and war on the neocon PNAC agenda.