In a memo leaked to the New York Times, outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld advised President Bush on November 6 that his Iraq strategy needed a “major adjustment.” (“Rumsfeld’s pre-quit memo urged Iraq shift”) He said that our current path “is not working well enough or fast enough,” and then described various options for policy changes, while endorsing none specifically. The memo was written one day prior to the Democrats’ victorious Congressional elections, and two days before Rumsfeld announced his resignation. The Pentagon confirmed the memo’s authenticity. Donald Rumsfeld has been one of the primary architects and most loyal defenders of the White House’s policy on Iraq.
Read the full memo here.
Do you think this memo was leaked on purpose, and if so, for what purpose? Is the timing of the memo’s writing (November 6), just prior to the election and his subsequent resignation, significant? How will this affect Rumsfeld’s legacy? What qualities do you hope Robert Gates will possess as Defense Secretary that Rumsfeld may have lacked?
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Comments: 12
Were there mistakes after we took Baghdad? Sure - we all know that. But there are mistakes in every war. We will adjust our strategy as needed to win. We are years away from making any kind of long term judgements at this point. Let's see how this shapes up in the coming decades. Let's see if Bush got it right. It will take a long time for that to show itself.
C'mon, Don. Liberals are anything but monolithic in their views on any topic!
So, you write off veterans just because their politics don't meet your approval?
Someone in the White House has correctly figured out that we, the public, have no idea what to do once we are given access to the facts about something we have been raising a ruckus about.
So, now we know that Rumsfeld himself had no confidence in the way things are going in Irag. What will we do ? If history is where we look for that answer, then I guess we will talk about how we knew it all along for a few days, and then move on to a subject with less facts attached to it.
Over the next two years, America's presence in Iraq will dwindle, and Iraq will end up the being what the people native to that part of the world make of it. The fact that our nation smacked the hornets nest wide open and then left will leave most Americans feeling dazed and confused, but not talking or doing much about the situation.
In short, these memos are being leaked on purpose. The reason is to expedite the rate at which we, the people, forget about the whole thing.
Did Rumsfeld accomplish anything of value during his career? Mayhaps. But all of that will be completely overshadowed by his role in the Iraq debacle.
Kicking the Taliban's ass was a righteous and perfectly justifiable action, and it was done with considerable skill--up to the point where we shifted our sights, for no good reason, to Iraq. The Taliban is now resurgent. We failed to finish the job, thanks to whom? Well, Bush and Cheney in large part, but Rumsfeld deserves a large hunk of the credit.
Taking down Sadaam? Mission accomplished. That, as we all know, was the EASY part. We have the most overwhelmingly well-trained and well-armed military force that history has ever seen.
"We will adjust our strategy as neeeded to win". Well, you've got the party line down pat, don't you? Do you work in the West Wing by any chance? In Iraq, as Yoda could tell you, "There is no win".
And no, it does not require the perspective of history to recognize the fact that the barn is burning down all around you, Don.
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976851347
Was the leak intentional? Uh....how can you accidentally leak something? Of course it was intentional. It was either leaked by someone intent upon portraying Rumsfeld in a different light and as opposed to Bush on war policies, or it was leaked by a Bush detractor to show that not even the inner circle agrees with his botched behavior regarding this war. The other possibility, while extremely slim, is that Bush has finally gotten it through his thick skull that he has to actually do something and change course on this war. I doubt it though.
There is no winning the war in Iraq. Just about everyone from the military commanders on the ground there, to the strategists here, to the general public (other than for a few diehards) already realize this. Only Bush hasn't heard that message and still has this cowboy mentality about the war. We don't have the troops and Iraq's government hasn't the will to stand up to what is happening there. The very best anyone will be able to accomplish is to get out with the fewest American deaths.
The bloodbath that will follow is going to be horrible. Perhaps Bush is considering changes now because he cynically hopes that the worst of the civil war will be over and people will be trying to forget by the time of the next election.