Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, a key target of Iraq war critics, is stepping down, Republican officials said on Wednesday.
Former CIA Director Robert Gates will replace him, Republican officials said.
Earlier today, a spokesman for Rumsfeld said he’d given no indication that he would step down in the wake of Democratic election gains. The spokesman said Rumsfeld would work with Congress on Iraq but added that the focus on stabilizing the country will remain the same.
Just a short lesson in political history. Bush I backed away from invading and occupying Baghdad because he feared exactly what happened when Bush II did so. His foreign policy advisor was Brent Scowcroft. Neocons hated him and Bush I for that decision. They held sway with Bush the Lesser.
Bob Gates was Scowcroft’s deputy.
Maybe that means everyone in the family is talking, again. Maybe little Bush is listening. I figure the best we can hope for — is the Aggies coming in last in the Big 12!
We need to pull our troops out of Iraq now! How many more American soldiers have to die?
#21 – After years of unaccountability, state of denial and dodging his direct responsibility, we can say, referring to his own words directed at Belgium in 2003 after threatening to move the NATO HQ out of Brussels: ‘Rumsfeld has learned his lesson: there are consequences to his actions’.
Comment by Govert — 11/8/2006 @ 11:18 am
What consequences? He’ll be rewarded with a cushy gig at halliburton or some such thing. The consequence is that he’ll have to get a bigger house and a nicer car than the already big house and nice car that he has now.
A real consequence would be answering to a war crimes tribunal at the Hague… But we know the war criminals running the White House are immune to justice.
59. Sometimes history almost seems like a broken record, playing the same old themes again and again.
As Mark Twain said, history does not repeat itself but it rhymes a lot.
Even Bush’s grandfather Prescott Bush was accused of trading with the enemy (Nazis) and had his business seized.
#63 Moral Volcano, it’s both interesting and confusing to read how some of these American businessmen benefited from, and helped support, the Nazi war machine. It’s a maze of stock ownership, holding companies, banking relationships, and board directorships almost complex enough to evade pinning them down to any direct responsibility for the crimes and ultimate near-success of the regime.
“The business of America is business.”
–Calvin Coolidge