Wednesday, December 20, 2006

A slap at GIs up front


By PAT MURPHY

Donald Rumsfeld's exit as Defense secretary had all the hallmarks of an English royal's coronation. Parading the colors, an honor guard, presidential and vice presidential speeches, the four-star Marine yes-man joint chiefs chairman saluting his outgoing boss as a towering genius.

The most deceitful of the exaltations, however, was left to the Flim-Flammer-in-Chief, Vice President Dick Cheney, who elevated Rumsfeld to history's "greatest" Defense chief. What a clanger: President Bush fires Rummy. Cheney calls him "greatest."

Rumsfeld, a theoretician who treated generals and admirals as novices, was as about as great as the predecessor who turned America's Vietnam expedition into disaster, Robert (Whiz Kid) McNamara, who 30-some years after the debacle groveled for forgiveness for his blunders.

This is the Bush style, however, when dealing with favored incompetents screwing up the Iraq calamity. CIA chief George Tenet, who cooked up lies about non-existent weapons of mass destruction, and L. Paul Bremer, the Iraq occupation majordomo who impulsively disbanded the Iraqi Army only now to have it reorganized, were fired and then given the Medal of Freedom for their "outstanding" work.

The Rumsfeld honors, however, were a special slap at American GIs who've endured Rumsfeld's bungling.

Rumsfeld blew off GI complaints of being under-equipped as "you to go to war with the Army you've got."

He blew off generals when they complained they needed more troops. Now the consequences: U.S. forces unable to control violence while Bush finally ponders sending more troops three years late.

Rumsfeld tolerated—or encouraged?—abuse and torture of prisoners in Iraq and those spirited away to foreign countries.

He presided over the fraud and incompetence of no-bid contractors hired to rebuild Iraq infrastructure. The country still lacks sufficient electricity and its once-booming oil production is so paltry even local gasoline is in short supply.

And this "greatest" Defense secretary was so hopelessly unskilled as a planner and tactician that troop shortages were made up by sending units to Iraq three and four times as well as canceling and extending enlistment contracts. Exasperated Pentagon officers finally are telling Congress the military is "broken" from long tours and loss of equipment.

Now the military that suffered Rumsfeld is awaiting the post-New Year decision of Bush, another worthy in the field of military genius, on repairing the Iraq mess.

Bush doesn't want to be "rushed." He gave Rumsfeld three years and nine months after the Iraq invasion, $400 billion in funds, the lives of nearly 3,000 GIs and another 25,000 wounded, apparently not time or treasure enough to get it right.




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