Removal of Rumsfeld in the Works for Months-NYT

[onehandle]

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 — President Bush was moving by late summer toward removing Donald H. Rumsfeld as defense secretary, people inside and outside the White House said Thursday. Weeks before Election Day, the essential question still open was when, not if, to make the move.

Mr. Bush ultimately postponed action until after the election in part because of concern that to remove Mr. Rumsfeld earlier could be interpreted by critics as political opportunism or as ratifying their criticism of the White House war plan in the heart of the campaign, those people said.

The White House has refused to divulge the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that went into Mr. Rumsfeld’s announced resignation on Wednesday. Those who were interviewed would speak only on condition of anonymity, but included officials at the White House and those in a close circle of outside advisers. They said the administration had been engaged in painful discussions about Mr. Rumsfeld’s ouster for months, even as Mr. Bush said repeatedly that Mr. Rumsfeld was his man for Iraq.

The delay in Mr. Rumsfeld’s departure was painful for some Republicans, who have argued that his continued presence in the administration was politically counterproductive. Some complained Thursday that the resignation came too late to be any help during an election in which Mr. Rumsfeld became a whipping boy for Democratic, and eventually some Republican, candidates.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/10/washington/10rumsfeld.html

[LoZoccolo]

1. Wow, so he left someone he didn't feel was competent in charge...

...for political reasons.

[rodeodance]

24. Selfish. purely selfish.

[DaveJ]

2. Bush was only lying for 'his' own good

Jon Stewart's observation.

[saigon68]

32. ADIOS TO THE THUG AND WAR CRIMINAL

[JI7]

3. i'm not sure i believe this

[Xipe Totec]

6. I do

It means the Bush administration, as always, put political calculations ahead of the interests of our Nation. The White House knew what had to be done and sat on it, not because of National Security concerns, but because of partisan political considerations.

If that's not a reason to impeach then...


...well then we only have another dozen reasons to do so.

But this one is a biggie.

[JI7]

7. oh, i agree with that

but i'm not sure getting rid of Rumsfeld was one of them. either way it's disgusting.

[DearAbby]

14. You dont believe this?

This administration outted a NOC CIA AGENT for political gain, to cover their lies about invading Iraq, they would surely sit on this for the same reasons, plus other advantages.

[aquart]

4. So he betrayed his own party.

Ye gods. Ye gods.

They could have kept the Senate. Maybe even the House.

He destroyed his own party. Ye gods.

If we think we hate the boy emperor, I can't even imagine what the Republicans are thinking.

[Kagemusha]

8. "Real conservatism didn't fail; it was never tried"

Trotsky would be proud.

[rodeodance]

25. Yes, he let the Repugs lose (maybe).

[Infomaniac]

5. Yeah, right. Now starts the spin cycle...

If living in BushWorld for the last 6 years has taught me anything it is this: history is revised to fit the needs of the day. I doubt it was months at all. Two weeks tops and it wouldn't have happened at all if we hadn't beaten the 'pugs like drums.

[countmyvote4real]

9. Ding Ding Ding. You win.

Best response I've read in the thread.

[Infomaniac]

19. Thank you! NFT

[kenny blankenship]

11. Damn Straight! If the GOP had a history department

the motto over their doorway would read: Baked Fresh Daily.

[Infomaniac]

20. And the bakery special would be

the macaca roll.

[Marrak]

35. And what's a "Jim Baker's Dozen"?

I guess Jimmy Bob pulling crispy cremes outta his a$$?

[antonialee839]

15. Agreed, only I think they decided to throw Rummy under

the bus once it looked like the Dems would take the house. A matter of hours, not days.
It wouldn't take more than a phone call from Poppy to Bob Gates at Texas A&M to get the ball rolling.

[Infomaniac]

21. That's what probably happened...

The spin from Bushworld is that Shrubbie interviewed Gates last week. Sure he did. Uh-huh. Oh, so believable. Bush probably drunk dialed all of Poppy's cabinet members looking for somebody to come save his ass.

[screembloodymurder]

28. When Baker came in Rummy was dead meat.

It happens in business every day. They never fire the guy until management has a chance to fully assess the situation.

[DoYouEverWonder]

22. That's right

if the Repugs kept Congress, Rummie would still have a job.

[acmavm]

26. Youb give him two weeks??? I give him about two hours after the

polls closed and right after Daddy's phone call.

[leftchick]

29. absolutely

their specialty, revisionist history.

[gratuitous]

33. Yeah, and they clearly haven't considered . . .

They have clearly not considered the stark implications of this story (not that the popular media will figure it out or call them on it). And that is that for political considerations, to enhance their standing in the polls, to avoid having to admit a mistake, they kept Donald Rumsfeld on as Secretary of Defense. They knew he'd botched the job. They knew that people, military and civilian, were dying because of Rumsfeld's mistakes. But for their own political standing, they chose to keep him on the job despite all the death, mayhem, and waste going on.

I don't think history will treat this episode very kindly if they decide to stick with this story, either 50 years from now or 50 days from now. How many people died in Iraq between July and the election? How many might not have died if the administration had admitted its mistake and cashiered Rumsfeld sooner?

[young_at_heart]

10. Was party politics more important than "The War"?

Bush said he hadn't made any mistakes when asked a couple years ago at a press conference, "I can't think of any", he said. To save face and (heaven forbid) show ANY sign of weakness has been more important to him than our troops' welfare, I guess.

[54anickel]

12. Yeah, but he topped that "No mistakes" statement when he said his

best achievement was catching that really big fish! I can't remember exactly how the question was worded, best moment, memory, highlight, whatever. His answer was the big fish he caught down on the pig farm. He even lied about that if I remember correctly.

[young_at_heart]

13. I looked it up......Skinner reported it on May 7, 2006

He was asked at a press conference in Berlin about his high point since taking office and he replied, "I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound (3.402 kilos) perch in my lake".

[54anickel]

Thanks!! "High point" that was it. And I remember people saying it

had to be a lie because the record perch was smaller than that. I went to look up record perch and found the world record yellow perch was 4 lbs-3 oz
Of course I hear everythings a whole lot BIGGER in Texas ;-) And I'm sure his wasn't "yeller" :eyes:

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/dnrnews/pressrelease2006/031606a.html

[radwriter0555]

16. bush is taking credit for rumsfeld running so fast that the door was left

swinging?

PLEASE. We aren't that stupid.

Rummy got the hell out of dodge before his ass got shipped off to Ft. Leavenworth. bush was BEGGING him to stay.

[Shine]

17. You mean Bush LIED when he said last week Rummy was his man??

Well, I'm shocked. :eyes:

[Kool Kitty]

18. Hard to believe, ain't it?

Bush lied?????????

[rodeodance]

23. I have heard many say how Repugs had to carry him during their bids

for re-election-maybe some could have won had bush did this before the election.

[screembloodymurder]

27. Hillary got wind of this in August.

She knew she wasn't going out on a limb when she grilled Rummy in August. She must have a little mole in the WH.

[Princess Turandot]

30. I think that this is nothing but an attempt to prop up Bush...

by saying that he was planning to do this all along. I do not believe for a second that this would have happened had we not taken the Congress. Someone forced the petulant child masquerading as the American president to do this.

[moondust]

31. "Political opportunism."

If they didn't have a long history of practicing political opportunism when it comes to EVERYTHING, he might have been able to legitimately dump Rumsfield before the election and preserve a majority someplace. :rofl:

[Javaman]

34. yeah, right, in the works for months...

Their timing is impeccable.