Title: SAY GOODBYE TO RUMMY - WITHIN WEEKS HE WILL RESIGN Source:
THE GIFT TO SEE THE TRUTH URL Source:[None] Published:Jun 4, 2006 Author:TLBSHOW Post Date:2006-06-04 10:40:35 by TLBSHOW Keywords:None Views:19275 Comments:91
While I don't think Rumsfeld is going anywhere, I have to agree that our position in the world just in the past 2 years has been greatly diminished and our credibility tattered and ruined, thanks to this administration.
We need to reconcile with the world community and do some serious apologising to the Iraqi people and to our grandchildren for leaving them a world of fear and destruction, all because our hearts ran too fast. And we must promise that we eschew our tendency to be uncritical of our leaders and our country's policies.
Our new foreign policy going forward (or at least for the next administration, whoever that may be) should be one of thoughtfulness and reconciliation, not of incuriosity, jingoism, speculation and aggression.
Biden told NBC's "Meet the Press" that the accountability for Haditha and other alleged atrocities in Iraq should go all the way up to Rumsfeld. (Watch Rumsfeld's critics fueled by Haditha incident -- 2:17)
"We can't get rid of the president; he's there for two-and-a-half more years," Biden said. "There is a system of accountability. ... When you make serious mistakes, you step forward and you acknowledge them and you walk away.
"Presidents can't and shouldn't do that. Secretaries of defense can and should."
Biden said Rumsfeld "should be be gone; he shouldn't be in his office tomorrow morning."
A frequent critic of the Bush administration's policy in Iraq, Biden has previously called for Rumsfeld's resignation.
Retired Maj. Gen. John Batiste, who led the 1st Infantry Division in northern Iraq in 2004-2005, on Sunday also called for "a secretary of defense whose instinct and judgment we all trust."
Batiste told CNN's "Late Edition" he sees "a direct link between Haditha, the national embarrassment of Abu Ghraib, going on four years now of uncontrollable chaos in Iraq, with the bad judgment, poor decisions of our secretary of defense back in late 2003 and 2004."
"We went in under-resourced, overcommitted. And the strain on the force is unbelievable," Batiste said.
Batiste was one of several retired generals to publicly call for Rumsfeld's resignation in recent months. Responding to their calls, President Bush in April defended Rumsfeld, saying he was doing "a fine job." (Full story)
On Sunday, a Pentagon spokesman could not be reached for comment
Good to have you on the Forum, patriot, however...
"I have to agree that our position in the world just in the past 2 years has been greatly diminished and our credibility tattered and ruined, thanks to this administration."
I couldn't disagree more...sure, the last five years have been tumultuous, but that is becuz we are doing what needs to be done to confront Islamofascism. Osama bin Laden and his cohorts hated America and what we stand for long before Dubyuh started fighting back. As for our position in the world, America remains a beacon of freedom and hope, and as the fledging democracy in Iraq takes root and the Iraqi people begin to reap the rewards of liberty and self- determination, America's efforts will be credited with making the Mideast a safer, more vibrant region.
"And we must promise that we eschew our tendency to be uncritical of our leaders and our country's policies."
Woah there, patriot, I don't see where being critical of our leaders has ever been that much of a problem in this country...and it certainly ain't stopping a lot of folks from criticizing the heck outta this POTUS.
There's probably some truth to that...still, your claim that this Administration's actions have caused more damage than any other belies an ignorant naivity about American history, imho.
I'm just basing that on what's occurred. Our high-flying rhetoric has certainly not matched up with the reality that we are torturing people like the Nazis did. :(
This has destroyed our credibility in the past 2 years; the rest of the world is shaking their head at us, as are many thoughtful Americans, liberal and conservative alike.
Well, I've seen some pictures of what our troops did, and I have a hard time seeing the difference between that and what the Nazis did. The Abu Ghraib revelations are what set me against the war and my fellow conservatives in the first place. I felt like I was taken by a confidence scam and the that war was not really about liberation at all. :(
Two years along, I think I'm right in my suspicions... :|
On the plus side, it's really liberating to be an independent and not be loyal to either side of the spectrum. :D
Nothing in the record would lead me to agree. Unless looking the other way on torture and losing what should have been an easily-winnable war are considered great accomplishments... :)
I think when progress in Iraq is at a standstill and shows zero sign of improving (and no, civilian massacres is not a sign of improvement), it's time to redeploy and admit that we lost. :)
I didn't want to turn this into a pissing match...but it's clear we lost the war when we became the torturers we claimed we flew 3,000 miles to destroy. :(
Yes. We got it back after Vietnam and Watergate, after all. We need to usher in an era of thoughtfulness and global reconciliation. We need a real leader, like Reagan.
