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Saving Secretary Rumsfeld?
By Matthew Rothschild
So now Rumsfeld's defenders are trying to save his neck. The day after official reports revealed failures of leadership all the way up to the Secretary of Defense, The Wall Street Journal editorializes about "a Rumsfeld vindication."
And on the very day that James Schlesinger was releasing his commission's report that was critical of Rumsfeld, Schlesinger himself defended the Donald in the most outrageous manner.
His "resignation would be a boon for all of America's enemies," Schlesinger said.
What kind of twisted thinking is that?
How does Donald Rumsfeld's fate bear, in any way, on the fight against Al Qaeda?
Schlesinger wants us to believe that Rumsfeld is beyond reproach because he's fighting our enemies.
Similarly, some Republicans have been suggesting that if George Bush goes down to defeat in November, it will be a victory for the terrorists.
This is a double load of hogwash.
In a democracy, no one is indispensable. If we are to tie any of our leaders' fates to the cause of fighting terrorism, we thereby relinquish the capacity to hold them accountable.
And Rumsfeld needs to be held accountable. He's the one who said that the Geneva Conventions don't apply in Afghanistan. He's the one who distributed new procedures that were tantamount to torture, including the use of dogs and the keeping of prisoners in painful positions. He's the one who dispatched the general from Guantánamo over to Iraq. And he's the one who failed to adequately set troop levels during the invasion and occupation.
We do not live under royalty or junta.
The safety of America does not depend on Donald Rumsfeld or George Bush remaining in power