Rumsfeld or the Generals

One by one they are stepping up to the microphone and demanding that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld step down. According to the story in The Washington Post by Thomas Ricks, Army Major General John Batiste turned down a three star promotion and the opportunity to be second in command over in Iraq rather than work under Rumsfeld. Army Major General Paul Eaton pretty much has the same opinion. Marine General Anthony Zinni is one of the harshest critics of his former bosses in the capitol. Lt. General Wallace Gregson had this to say about it. "A lot of them are hugely frustrated," in part because Rumsfeld gave the impression that "military advice was neither required nor desired".

What this tells me is that our leaders have not listened to their military advisors here and over in Iraq. That troubles me on many fronts. First point is that I would think that you would let them do their jobs in their own way to get the mission completed. Second is that you should supply them with all of the resources they need to get the mission completed. Third is that you should not be telling a well trained and highly educated general how you as a civilian want the war to be fought.

When this many of our generals and commanders in the military have the same thing to say and we do not listen to them then who is really to blame? When those same people would rather retire than serve under these conditions then there is a serious problem. These are the people that have trained for years and served all over the world in our armed services. They are the proud leaders of the greatest military in the world, and without the teamwork approach from Washington who can blame them for stepping down?

I’m sure the spin from Washington will start up soon. Somehow it will get turned around and all of the finger pointing will be back at the generals. Rumsfeld will dodge this controversy and all will be well with the military and the war in Iraq. The only problem is all the generals will have retired by then!