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Audacity of Truth
Gaffetastic:
Vice President Joe Biden had his “oops” moment Wednesday speaking in a 49er-crazed SF when he told a crowd at a city political fundraiser that “the Giants are on their way to the Super Bowl.” - SF Chronicle, 1-18-12
The war on Rummy
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock the last few days, you’ve seen the articles and watched the interviews of the six retired generals who are calling for the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumseld. A sampling of what they’ve said:
“We went to war with a flawed plan that didn’t account for the hard work to build the peace after we took down the regime. We also served under a secretary of defense who didn’t understand leadership, who was abusive, who was arrogant, who didn’t build a strong team” — Retired Army Maj. Gen. John Batiste
“My sincere view is that the commitment of our forces to this fight was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions — or bury the results.” — Retired Marine Lt. Gen. Gregory Newbold
“They only need the military advice when it satisfies their agenda. I think that’s a mistake, and that’s why I think he should resign.” — Retired Army Maj. Gen. John Riggs
“We grow up in a culture where accountability, learning to accept responsibility, admitting mistakes and learning from them was critical to us. When we don’t see that happening it worries us. Poor military judgment has been used throughout this mission.” — Retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, former chief of U.S. Central Command
“I really believe that we need a new secretary of defense because Secretary Rumsfeld carries way too much baggage with him. … I think we need senior military leaders who understand the principles of war and apply them ruthlessly, and when the time comes, they need to call it like it is.” — Retired Army Maj. Gen. Charles Swannack
“He has shown himself incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically, and is far more than anyone responsible for what has happened to our important mission in Iraq. … Mr. Rumsfeld must step down.” — Retired Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton
On the surface, this (supposedly) uncoordinated wave of calls from top retired generals for Rummy to step down seem pretty damning, but a few of my favorite bloggers have weighed in on the issue and from those posts I get the distinct impression that these calls have more to do with a dislike by some “Old School” higher ups in the military of Rummy’s ideas about reforming the military (especially the Army) rather than issues with his handling of the war in Iraq.
Two blogposts I found of interest:
Dafydd ab Hugh at Big Lizards wrote about Rummy’s reforming of the military and speculated as to what the motivations may be behind the calling for Rummy’s resignation by the generals.
McQ, who served in the Army, takes issue with the generals because they waited til they were retired to speak out:
But I also have a problem with generals who can’t find it in themselves to risk their stars and speak out when it might make a difference, but instead wait until they’re safely retired, and essentially risk nothing.
Consider both of the above posts must reads. There’s more to this story than the press is giving you (surprising, I know 
)
More: In response to the barrage of criticism thrown at the Sec. of Defense, some retired generals and other military higher-ups are speaking out in support of him:
“I think what we see happening with retired general officers is bad for the military, bad for civil-military relations and bad for the country,” retired Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs under Mr. Bush, said in an interview with The Washington Times. He said he would elaborate his views in an op-ed essay.
“I’m hurt,” said retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael P. DeLong, who was deputy commander of U.S. Central Command during the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and briefed Mr. Rumsfeld at the Pentagon.
“When we have an administration that is currently at war, with a secretary of defense that has the confidence of the president and basically has done well — no matter what grade you put on there, he has done well — to call for his resignation right now is not good for the country,” he said. …
Retired Gen. John Keane, former Army vice chief of staff under Mr. Rumsfeld, said the secretary involved himself in war planning “just like other strong secretaries of defense.”
“Generals bring forward their campaign plans, and the civilian leaders apply their judgments,” he said. “As a result of that, those plans are changed. The secretary has done the same thing as pertains to our plans for invading Afghanistan and Iraq. In my view, this is healthy and in my view this collaboration-making is healthy and it serves the nation well.”
Add General Tommy Franks to that list.
I’m sure MSM news outlets far and wide will saturate their newspapers, news sites, and news programs with the news that some former generals actually support Rummy – it’ll rival the coverage the six who’ve come out against him.
Not.
By the way, here’s the President’s declaration of support for Rummy.
Hat tip: Captain Ed
Update I: Tom Bevan at Real Clear Politics has posted an email of support for Rummy written by a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army.
Update II: Here’s retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael DeLong’s opinion piece defending Rummy.
Read more via Gateway Pundit,Jeff Goldstein (see also here), Betsy Newmark, Blog for All, All Things Beautiful
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How many of those retired generals have books coming out this year? That’s a question that needs to be answered. How many of them favored the more bloated, bureaucratic, top-heavy military structure we used to have over the leaner, more responsive military Rumsfeld has been building? That’s another.
- Everytime a General decides to try to make policy he gets his nose in a wringer. My guess is these guys are sour grapes because of the changes in the military that Rummy implimented over their objections, and now that they’re “safely” retired they write books and then sensationalize them with words of old rancor. Generals are always trying to make policy, from Patton to McCarther, and they always get shot down, so to speak. Their business is the execution of war, not politics, for which they are singularly unsuited. Patton wanted to drive right through Germany and meet “Those damn Cossacks” on the Eastern front. McCarther wanted to continue pushing right up through North Korea and into Manchuria, taking on China. Military people fight wars, but they seldom know when to stop. Fortunately most do not see themselves as some sort of “Emporer” but a few do, and thats what we’re seeing now. They have neither the patience, nor the insight for diplomacy, so when they start talking policy they are way out of bounds. During WWII Eisenhower was choosen as the Cammander of all alied forces, precisely because he thought more like a diplomat and less like a general. He made it all the way to president for the same reasons. He supported Rosevelt/Truman, where McCarther fought with them both. I love and support our military, being retired military myself, but lets face it sonmetimes old soldiers that don’t die can be a real pain.
- Bang
The Commander in Chief says he supports the Secretary. End of story. If the Commander in chief wants to change he will. Again end of story. Conflicts with generals go back to George Washington through various wars. Why the fuss now? Oh! Silly question. It is about the President is it not?
Rumsfeld has upset many, many applecarts in the Pentagon, and it’s a good thing he did. Nothing is more resistant to change than the military, and change is absolutely vital. Rumsfeld killed the Crusader, for example, a large, very heavy, self propelled artillery piece. It was a good vehicle, and a good weapon, but completely designed for another time and place, facing down a massive Russian threat in Europe. It was too heavy to transport, too expensive, and too complex for the modern war environment. However, many Army generals and other officers had their careers tied up in it, and totally lost focus as to what was more important, their idea of what was needed and their career aspirations to ride a weapon system contract into retirement, or what the Army and the US needs to face the current and future combat environments. These are exactly the kind of people you see speaking out against Rumsfeld now, people who can’t put the national good above their own hurt feelings and lack of vision.
The military is full of people who are anti-progress, always has been. If you doubt this, when James Doolittle successfully sank a battleship with an aircraft after WWI, and was pushing for naval airpower, he was almost court martialed for it. Imagine how WWII would have turned out if they’d won and we had no aircraft carriers.
Rumsfeld has done an excellent job.
The bush/Rumsfeld military and foreign policy has been an abject failure. If you are not admitting that, you are a dead-ender. bush and Rumsfeld should both be removed. Rumsfeld’s vision for the military is dangerous to all life-forms on this planet. Peace
I see the resident moron’s put his two cents in.
What I’d like to know is who unzipped his fly again?
- Its official. The National Acadamy of Arts and sinuses has completed a study of planetary alien life forms and reports that all life on earth is in imminant danger should Steve(FN) ever escape his cage and replicate.
- However, on the bright side the orifice of homely defense has determined that this menace can be easily driven off with bug spray, tidy bowl, or a good strong anti-deoderant.
- Bang
Nothing to contribute except invective, the argument goes to my side. Peace
You can just stop at “Nothing to contribute….”, as if that weren’t obvious by now.
One thing I know about Generals is this. Many of them believe that they are kings amongst their commands. They absolutely HATE have their toes stepped on, and one thing we know about Rummy is that he don’t care who’s toes he steps on.
I don’t really like Rummy, but my reasons are personal not professional. The base I work on makes Howitzers (big cannon goes “BOOM”) When Rummy canceled the latest and greatest Self Propelled Howitzer there were some Seriously “upset” People. 
Ohhh and the lastest Paladin was a sweet, sweet weapons system. But Rummy was right, Why focus on last century’s technology when there is all sorts of new technologies to look into. Well when the Generals realized they were not going to lose their finances they quieted down fast enough.
I guess my whole point is, most of us don’t have a clue at how many people are PO’d at Rummy. It is illegal for them to say anything while they are commissioned so why not talk once you retire. Also the talk circuit is flooded with generals. Might not be a whole lot of money there, but I wonder how much the MSM gives for an appearance on one of their hate the Bush admin shows. – Lorica
Don’t you think that maybe these Generals are concerned about their military and Rummy’s destruction of it? Could it be that they are correct. Nothing in Iraq has gone the way bush/Rummy/Cheney said it would and those three ain’t no smarter now then they were then. Peace
Hey steve, you should be happy with Rumsfeld, if you feel he’s destroying the military. You hate the military and war, so you should be as happy as a pig in scheise!
Rumsfeld has done nothing but help the military. It is a far far more potent, lethal, effective, efficient, and flexible force now than when he came in, largely due to his efforts. Oh, Lorica, he canceled a project that I was on that eventually led to me being laid off from that company after the work evaporated. Know what I think of him for that? He was right to cancel it, it was a bloated, non-functional POS (this was a major sim system). It didn’t work, the govt had sunk tens of millions of dollars in it, and it would never have worked. Putting it out of everyones misery was the best decision I could think of, and it took someone of Rumsfeld’s rank to force the issue.
Rummy is AOK in my book…
Don’t you think that maybe these Generals are concerned about their military and Rummy’s destruction of it?
Laughable statement, and obviously clueless.
IF, and I say IF, therse generals were truly concerned, they would not have waited years down the road for when they retire to say something so they can get on the talk show circuits.
The MSM would have had the same reaction and would have brought them on TV and interviewed them the same, but why, if the generals were so concerned, did they not speak out until years later and when they retired?
Could it be that they are correct.
Possibly, but then again, what about the hundreds of other generals who say different? Who says they are not correct? You have 6 out of how many generals say negatives?
I will grant you that it is possible they can be correct, as long as you grant the same that they can be incorrect and doing this for possibly reasons that are not so benign as you seem to think.
Nothing in Iraq has gone the way bush/Rummy/Cheney said it would
President Bush did say this would be a War that would be like no other.
We are fighting terrorists, not a country, not an army. Conventional warfare, which is what these generals are used to, will not work when fighting terrorists and I do agree that they may have a bone to pick and hard feelings with the shake up Rummy is doing to the military.
Generals, are probably the most set in their ways and are used to giving orders and not taking them. when you have a civvie like Rummy come in, giving orders, revamping things, killing off generals pet projects and interests, I am sure they would be quite bent out of shape.
Guess for some, they cannot adapt and overcome.
Like I said, if they were so concerned, why wait till years later and till they retire, if they are so concerned for our military and troops?
Ok, let’s get some perspective on the 6 generals speaking out.
First of all you have 6 generals, who out of there concern for our troops and military, waited YEARS till they retired to speak out.
Do you KNOW how many generals there are in the Armed Forces?
No?
Let me help you put this in the proper perspective then:
ARMY GENERALS: 12
ARMY LT GENERALS: 49
ARMY MAJ GENERALS: 97
ARMY BRIG GENERALS: 154
TOTAL ARMY GENERALS: 312
MARINE GENERALS: 5
MARINE LT GENERALS: 15
MARINE MAJ GENERALS: 21
MARINE BRIG GENERALS: 41
TOTAL MARINE GENERALS: 82
AIRFORCE GENERALS: 13
AIRFORCE LT GENERALS: 37
AIRFORCE MAJ GENERALS: 85
AIRFORCE BRIG GENERALS: 138
TOTAL AIRFORCE GENERALS: 273
NAVY ADMIRAL (GENERALS): 9
NAVY VICE ADMIRAL (GENERALS): 31
NAVY REAR ADMIRAL (U) (GENERALS): 68
NAVY REAR ADMIRAL (L) (GENERALS): 106
TOTAL NAVY ADMIRAL (GENERALS): 214
TOTAL ARMED FORCES ACTIVE GENERALS: 881
Deptartment of Defense
Active Duty Military Personnel by rank/Grade
February 18, 2006.
Link
Out of that 881 Generals, you have 6 that retired, and are speaking out. Correct me if I am wrong, but that is approximately what, .6 percent of all generals on Active Duty? Less that one percent.
Out of the 881 Generals you have 6 retired generals that waited YEARS before retiring to speak out (out of concern for the troops and our military).
These 6 Generals are what the Media is holding up as proof that the Military doesn’t suppose the President, that even the President’s own Generals do not support him.
Also posted Here, on my Blog.
- Actually good old Steve(fn) has sucked you into another strawman phoney debate. The main premise behind the lefts loud endless screeching about Iraq, is that things have “gone wrong”. This is of course making an assumption only a child with no war experience would ever make, or worse an ideolog with an agenda.
- Whats laughable in this argument is the gact that it has to start with the stupid assumption that the enemy is going to just remain static. Nothing could be further from the truth, particularly when the enemy is already using terrorist tactics, since he can’t hope to win in a linear, mano-el-mano battle, against the American forces. On those few occassions when they’ve even tried they’ve been slaughtered wholesale.
- In other words it wouldn’t matter on some levels who the hell was in Rummys position. The enemy will adjust to avoid losses and thwart your plans, no matter how often you adjust. Add to that the “sneak in attack and run” tactics of the Jahidists, and you see the problem. Rummys a tough cookie, which is probably the best you can hope for in someone with his responsibilities.
I certainly didn’t agree with all his deciusions, but I also know full well I don’t see the whole picture, so I can’t really judge him at the time, in the heat of the moment. Incidently, the enemy just loves this kind of Liberal ankle biting crap, but the Left is so hungery to regain power they could care less, so they’ll pile on, even though its an empty, feckless gesture.
- Rummy has done about average in some regards, below average in others, and above average in still others. The cater-walling is pure sour grapes, and will continue as long as the DoJ is allowed to fight the changes that are needed in this type of warfare.
- Lastly, the executive civilian government decides policy, not the military. Only an idiot with a wish for a runaway Totalitarian system would want it otherwise. A major part of the way our Constitution, and governmental strutures are setup, are teeming with safegaurds against the Military ever becoming its own regime. So when you see a handfull of retired generals playing President, you can pretty much disregard. They’re wrong on all fronts, and probably interested in big speaking fee’s and book sales.
- So much for the lefts/Steves(fn) strawman.
- Bang
I think if they were concerned about the military they would of complained the whole time the Clinton Administration was destroying it. Steve where were you when the rangers were being killed in Somalia??? Where were these generals??? Did we hear about them complaining then??? Did you know that when Clinton was handing the CMH to one of the fathers whos son was killed in the Somalia debacle that father refused to shake his hand and told him he was unworthy to be Commander and Chief of his son??? No Steve you didn’t know these things and you don’t really care. Clinton was your buddy, you switched to wearing boxers because you wanted to be just like him. How about the illegal war in Kosovo?? Where do you stand on the illegal occupation of that country?? Where do you stand on the fact that the KLA still has not disarmed and is spreading islamic disent thru out the balkans??? Steve I am sorry but you are too uninformed for your opinion to really matter much at all. When someone on your side can tell me what threat Slobo was to America, I might listen to you more. But You are just stuck on stupid. Thank you for your input, but you are just wrong, like always. – Lorica
I agree with you Severian. Rummy has stood up to alot of “waste” in the military. I bring up the Paladin weapons system only as a point of referance. I agree with Rummy’s decision to get rid of it. We have tons of self propelled artilery. In 2000 our base was asked to store and maintain 36 of these bad boys. They are cool to see moving around the base, but it was obvious that we have more than we need, so why continue to make more. Rummy made the right decision. Also there are some new ideas coming out in High engery laser systems, and sound also has become more important. We shall see what happens. The only thing I like Jimmy Carter about was the fact that he was the guy who really saw stealth technology as the way of the future and he made sure it was funded. Now look at where we are with that. The F22 Raptor I hear is pure heaven to fly. – Lorica (again)
“The only thing I like Jimmy Carter about was the fact that he was the guy who really saw stealth technology as the way of the future and he made sure it was funded.”
Knowing what I do about peanuthead, that had to be an accident. Either that, or he thought it would never work and would drain funds from more relevant weapon systems. He sabotaged the development of nuclear penetrators, and the enhanced radiation weapon, both of which would be quite nice to have to drop from our shiny new stealth aircraft.