Rumsfeld is resigning.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

We can't withdraw from Iraq until the mission has been completed, there's a stable government there, and Iraq has a decent military to defend itself. To pull out now would be disastrous. It would not only signal a worldwide defeat to the terrorists, but destroy any credibility the U.S. may have had as a fighting force and with the Iraqi people, whom we liberated.

You're using this in the past tense as if it's already happened. Please explain, because in my world, Iraqis are dying every day, afraid to leave their homes, and have closed a significant number of family owned small businesses. And dont' point to the b.s. of capturing Hussein or the vote in May as evidence of liberation. You are not liberated if you live in fear of being killed everyday.

Don't you remember? Liberty is messy according to Donald "Stuff Happens" Rumsfeld.

Oh, and we've long declared defeat to the terrorists by giving up on our values, liberties and freedoms. Now we ought to let them dictate how long we stay enganged wherever they choose to engage us and how many more lives we'll have to let go to waste in order to preserve a sense of our undefined "victory"?. Strategery, strategery...

The reason we aren't pulling out is because the administration realised the enormity of its mistake in invading that country and that a civil war in Iraq is now inevitable given the strength of the sectarian divisions.

Slogans like the Stay the course are simply a way of treading water. You can't solve a problem like Iraq simply by grandstanding - it requires actual planning.

At this point I'm sure ANYTHING approaching a real plan to resolve the problem will be welcome. But I would ask seriously "can this be fixed?" - certainly not in the short term, I'd be surprised if there isn't a significant troop presence in Iraq at least by the time of the next presidential election. Bit of a #######-blossom...

Edited November 11, 2006 by erekose

[one...two...tree 2,762]

We can't withdraw from Iraq until the mission has been completed, there's a stable government there, and Iraq has a decent military to defend itself. To pull out now would be disastrous. It would not only signal a worldwide defeat to the terrorists, but destroy any credibility the U.S. may have had as a fighting force and with the Iraqi people, whom we liberated.

You're using this in the past tense as if it's already happened. Please explain, because in my world, Iraqis are dying every day, afraid to leave their homes, and have closed a significant number of family owned small businesses. And dont' point to the b.s. of capturing Hussein or the vote in May as evidence of liberation. You are not liberated if you live in fear of being killed everyday.

Don't you remember? Liberty is messy according to Donald "Stuff Happens" Rumsfeld.

Oh, and we've long declared defeat to the terrorists by giving up on our values, liberties and freedoms. Now we ought to let them dictate how long we stay enganged wherever they choose to engage us and how many more lives we'll have to let go to waste in order to preserve a sense of our undefined "victory"?. Strategery, strategery...

The reason we aren't pulling out is because the administration realised the enormity of its mistake in invading that country and that a civil war in Iraq is now inevitable given the strength of the sectarian divisions.

Slogans like the Stay the course are simply a way of treading water. You can't solve a problem like Iraq simply by grandstanding - it requires actual planning.

At this point I'm sure ANYTHING approaching a real plan to resolve the problem will be welcome. But I would ask seriously "can this be fixed?" - certainly not in the short term, I'd be surprised if there isn't a significant troop presence in Iraq at least by the time of the next presidential election. Bit of a #######-blossom...

[I'm Gone 60]

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/nation/15981318.htm

The Marines had been on a continuous foot patrol for several days, hunting for insurgents. They were lost in the hard and isolating rhythms of infantry life.

They knew nothing of the week's news.

Now they were being told by an Iraqi whose house they occupied that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, one of the principal architects of the policies that had them here, had resigned. "Rumsfeld is gone?" the sergeant asked. "Really?"

Al-Menti nodded. "This is better for Iraq," he said. "Iraqi people say thank you."

The sergeant went upstairs to tell his Marines, just as he had informed them the day before that the Republican Party had lost control of the House of Representatives and that Congress was in the midst of sweeping change. Al-Menti had told them that, too.

"Rumsfeld's out," he said to five Marines sprawled with rifles on the cold floor.

Lance Cpl. James L. Davis Jr. looked up from his cigarette. "Who's Rumsfeld?" he asked.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Honored at Pentagon Departure Ceremony

####### Cheney:

"I believe the record speaks for itself: Don Rumsfeld is the finest secretary of defense this nation has ever had."

Does Cheney really believe this, or is he "backslapping" to make his friend feel better?

On Iraq, the complaint list was long: He resisted sending enough troops to Iraq in the beginning; he remained in denial about the insurgency even after its deadly consequences were clear and he failed to properly equip American troops.