December 3, 2006
The last days of Rummy
In The Fog of War, Robert McNamara dissembles in front of the camera. His failed policy, his arrogance and the sychophants he surrounded himself with caused millions of deaths, untold suffering, and America's first military defeat.
Today's story from NYT is that the arrogant Rummy, seeing his firing coming, finally told the truth on his last day as Secretary of Defense. Like McNamara, he fell apart at the end. His candid assessment--"In my view it is time for a major adjustment." He went on to suggest that Mr.Bush continue misleading the American people. "Whatever new approach the U.S. decides on, [tell them] the U.S. os doing so on a trial basis. This will give us the ability to readjust and move to another course if necessary and therefore, (I'm not making this up) not 'lose.' Go minimalist."
This would be a best selling novel in the Catch-22 genre if it were not so tragic. How many have died? The best estimate is 600,000. How many homeless? more than a million. How many have left the country? Millions.
How many more deaths would be caused by Rumsfeld's new "minimilast" approach? And how about this line: "Iraqis have to pull up their socks,step up and take responsibility for their country." Had he finished the thought he might have added, "now that we have destroyed the country, it is up to them to rebuild. Our war profiteers are too busy with investigations."
Sad story. One can only imagine how the families of the almost 2,900 dead soldiers will feel when they read Rumsfeld's memo in the NYT.
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