But then came Abu Ghraib. And the insurgency. And mounting American casualties. And finally a sense that Rumsfeld had lost touch with what was really happening on the ground in Iraq.

The insurgency started with the war. The Feyadeen units operated in organized guerilla fashion. As the we dig further into the Iraqi document dump, we will see the parallel insugency campaign had the benefit of foreign expertise and leadership with wondrous amounts of munitions and cash. Add to this mix the release of Iraqi’s entire prison population and the reinvigoration of the Iraqi tribal and criminal gangs and Shiite militias in affiliation with Iranian agents and provocateurs. On top of that, we inherited all the sectarian problems that Saddam kept his heavy boot on.

Against all this and the President daring Al Qaeda to come to Iraq and fight it out with our Marines and Soldiers. They did, too. Any progress against any or all of these severe problems? Yes or no.

and

Abu Ghraib and reports of other prisoner abuse showed an executive whose approval of questionable interrogation techniques led to abuses far beyond what any American army had ever done. For this alone, he should have been sacked long ago.

I find it odd that you use Abu Ghraib, twice, to muddy Rumsfeld. The Courts Martials were not enough for you? The demotion and cashiering of Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski and the career dead end for Lt. Gen. Sanchez brought a higher star count than My Lai. Everyone responsible and/or tainted got it in the neck, Rumsfeld was never, ever even tainted. That’s Sully’s territory. BTW, you can stop rooting for Jack, now.

I’m not sorry to say after 9-11, I want Rumsfeld watching my back. He fights and more importantly, he cares for his troops. With Generals Abizaid, Casey and Petraeus (in probably his fourth deployment) running things in theater and Generals Pace, Schoonmaker and Boykin in the 5 ring, I think we could be considered fortunate to have them with many, many others unmentioned and the man who put them there, Rumsfeld.

With no one looking over his shoulder, Rumsfeld has erred stupendously in planning for the occupation, in underestimating the insurgency, in stewardship of the billions in reconstruction funds initially given to the Coalition Provisional Authority, and in not realizing that by authorizing interrogation techniques that sidled up to the line of outright torture, it was inevitable that line would be crossed in a horrific series of disclosures that has stained the honor of America and her military.

Absolutely. The best summary I’ve seen as to why Rummy should be history. I also think your assessment of Bush’s disengagement from the war, and pathetic overdelegation of its conduct to Cheney and Rumsfeld, underscores the central flaw of this President. He’s a chief executive who doesn’t have the stuff to do it himself, and most frighteningly of all, he doesn’t see the big picture himself.

What is the salient characteristic of the Bush Administration after initiation of the Iraq invasion? It reacts to events rather that seeking to shape them.

Rumsfeld and the military performed, and continue to perform, brilliantly in Afghanistan, but his leadership for the Iraqi war was fatally flawed. It’s still amazing to me the huge contrasts between OEF and OIF in the post occupation phase of conflict.

Overall, I think it’s best for him to leave, but at this point I don’t see what new leadership could do since I feel that Iraq’s destiny is largely out of our hands.

We need to finish a win in Iraq and leave a stable ally there. I don’t see the White House or Rumsfeld with any new ideas on how to do that before the backstabbing MSM and Democrats wear down support for the War on Terror to the point where a forced withdrawal in inevitable.

I cannot see how the situation is going to improve. The White House in distracted and focused on amnesty and citizenship for illegal aliens and the Pentagon is quiet. Neither are effectively defending the War on Terror. Is Rumsfeld leaving the answer? I don’t know, but I suspect leadership and political strength should come from the White House first.

Zinni is anti-Semitic and he and the rest of these 6 clowns are Clintonista pacifists. Not a one of them made Flag rank before or after the anti-military Clinton Administration.

Please note that not a one of them publicly argued against gutting the Army of 4 Divisions in 1998 and in fact supported the reductions. If they had they wouldn’t have had a partisan flag to wave in this battle. They would have never had a flag.

These are the clowns that support the “blue helmet” military and not the US military. You sir, are a dupe.

RiverRat, RVN USN Riverine Forces, ‘68 and ‘69.