Is Rumsfeld Toast? Sure.
by Bob Cook
Is Donald Rumsfeld stepping down as Secretary of Defense? Yes.
Was Rumsfeld a polarizing figure? Yes. Did he personally symbolize the arrogance of the Bush administration on Iraq? Yes. Did he seem to ignore generals who pleaded for more troops and assistance? It sure looks that way. Did he ever regret those photos of him shaking Saddam Hussein's hand? One would think so.
Was Rumsfeld easier to dislike because of those beady eyes? Most definintely. Will his quote, "As you know, you have to go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you want," given as a staggeringly tin-eared response to a question from one of the American troops in Iraq, appear in the first three paragraphs of his career and life obituary? Don't you know it.
Did Richard Nixon, one of Rumsfeld's former employers, call him a "ruthless little bastard"? Why, yes indeed. Does anyone remember Rumsfeld was Secretary of Defense under Gerald Ford, overseeing the transition to the all-volunteer military? No, not really. And that he pressed Ford to send out swine flu vaccines, which killed 51 more people than the one military recruit who caught it in the first place? No, we don't remember that, either.
Will Rumsfeld's doctrine of sending as small a force as possible into battle be exonerated by history? Doesn't seem likely. Will he be remembered as the guy who botched Iraq? Sure, if the curators of the future George W. Bush Presidential Library have their say. But was the Iraq debacle all his fault? Probably not.
But is Rumsfeld going to get raked across the coals in what is sure to be a Democrat-led re-examiniation of how we got into war? Definitely. Did he think it was better to get outta dodge before Democrats start issuing subpoenas? Maybe so.
Would many of us had rather seen Rumsfeld, instead being able to walk out quietly, thrown out wearing nothing but one of those Abu Ghraib klan masks, while electrodes hung from his balls? Yes. Is it wrong to think that? Perhaps. But did Rumsfeld ever care what other people thought? No, not so much.
E-mail Bob Cook at bobc@flakmag.com.
