Bob Woodward writes in his new book In Denial that Andrew Card asked / advised US President Bush to get rid of Donald Rumsfeld… twice, thus reports the Washington Post.
Card was afraid that the Iraq war would (rightfully) be compared, into time / in the course of history, with the Vietnam war. The first time he advised Bush to fire Rumsfeld was right after the elections in 04. The second time was around Thanksgiving Day 05. Remarkably Card was supported by… Laura Bush, according to Woodward that is.
More:
A year later, Rumsfeld received an even more blunt criticism from Steve Herbits, a longtime friend who according to Woodward has served as an informal adviser to Rumsfeld since he became defense secretary. In a seven-page memo in July, 2005, entitled, “Summary of Post-Iraq Planning and Execution Problems,” Herbits listed a series of questions for Rumsfeld:
* “Who made the decision and why didn’t we reconstitute the Iraqi Army?”
* “Did no one realize we were going to need Iraqi security forces?”
* “Did no one anticipate the importance of stabilization and how best to achieve it?”
* “Why was the de-Baathification so wide and deep?”
He then described “Rumsfeld’s style of operation,” which he said was the “Haldeman model, arrogant,” referring to Nixon’s White House chief of staff H. R. “Bob” Haldeman. “Indecisive, contrary to popular image. Would not accept that some people in some areas were smarter than he. . . . Trusts very few people. Very, very cautious. Rubber glove syndrome—a tendency not to leave his fingerprints on decisions.”
As I have said on numerous occasions before: I supported the war in Iraq, and continu to support it generally, but I do not believe that the Bush administration chose the right course. Rumsfeld is the one directly politically responsible for every strategical mistake made in Iraq. That a lot of mistakes have been made, is extremely obvious and is becoming more and more clear just about every week.
Rumsfeld should resign. If not voluntarily, then he should be fired.
Think about this, if someone was a manager in a business enterprise and would mess up as much as Rumsfeld did, do you really think that he would still have a job?
No.
Staying the course is not an option. The longer the Bush administration hangs on to ‘staying the course’, the less chance the US and allies will have of succeeding. Rumsfeld does not seem to be willing to change the approach to Iraq as radically as necessary. He has to go and has to be replaced by someone who is willing. If not, Iraq will quite likely become a complete and utter failure.
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