"MR. RUMSFELD MUST STEP DOWN" (NYT EDIT)

A Top-Down Review for the Pentagon



By PAUL D. EATON
Published: March 19, 2006
Fox Island, Wash.


DURING World War II, American soldiers en route to Britain before D-Day were given a pamphlet on how to behave while awaiting the invasion. The most important quote in it was this: "It is impolite to criticize your host; it is militarily stupid to criticize your allies."

By that rule, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is not competent to lead our armed forces. First, his failure to build coalitions with our allies from what he dismissively called "old Europe" has imposed far greater demands and risks on our soldiers in Iraq than necessary. Second, he alienated his allies in our own military, ignoring the advice of seasoned officers and denying subordinates any chance for input.

In sum, he has shown himself incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically, and is far more than anyone else responsible for what has happened to our important mission in Iraq. Mr. Rumsfeld must step down.

In the five years Mr. Rumsfeld has presided over the Pentagon, I have seen a climate of groupthink become dominant and a growing reluctance by experienced military men and civilians to challenge the notions of the senior leadership.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/opinion/19eaton.html?_r=2&th&emc=th&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

All of their DOD sources have RETIRED as fast as they can!!! The exodus of thoughtful, devil's advocate, examine-all-the-angles types is like a hemorrhage over there!

Paul D. Eaton, a retired Army major general, was in charge of training the Iraqi military from 2003 to 2004.

It's nice the NYT is running this, but alas, it's not an NYT editorial -- it's only the opinion of the author.

that the opinion of a general officer with firsthand experience of the shambles Rumsfeld's policies have made of US operations in Iraq would carry more weight than that of the editorial board of the New York Times.

And the lead editorial says the following: The last three years have shown how little our national leaders understood Iraq, and have reminded us how badly attempts at liberation from the outside have gone in the past. Given where we are now, the question of whether a botched invasion created a lost opportunity might be moot, except for one thing. The man who did the botching, Donald Rumsfeld, is still the secretary of defense.

before the administration changes hands.