Rumsfeld and the Generals

Beginning in March 2006, a list of retired generals, some of whom have served in Iraq -- in what is being called a "chorus" -- have been calling for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's resignation.


 * Lt. Gen. William Odom, in his September 26, 2006, testimony before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee, "addressed points of argumentation that he hears too often and is tired of hearing, including being told to ignore the past and focus on the future, to ignore how we got into Iraq and only talk about what to do from here on. Unless, Odom said, we discuss whose interests this war served, we cannot decide what to do. It served no U.S. interests. It served the interests of al Qaeda and Iran."


 * Army General John Riggs told the Washington Post that "his peer group is 'a pretty closemouthed bunch' but that, even so, his sense is 'everyone pretty much thinks Rumsfeld and the bunch around him should be cleared out.'"


 * General Riggs told National Public Radio that Rumsfeld had "instilled a culture of arrogance among the civilian administrators of the war."


 * Lieutenant-General Greg Newbold, former director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in Time magazine that "the invasion of Iraq 'was done with a casualness and swagger that are the special province of those who have never had to execute these missions — or bury the results'. He added: 'The cost of flawed leadership continues to be paid in blood'."


 * Major General Paul D. Eaton, who oversaw the training of Iraqi troops in 2003-04, wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times calling for Rumsfeld "to go because he was 'incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically'."


 * Major General Eaton's Sepember 25, 2006, testimony (YouTube video here and here) before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.


 * Marine General Anthony Zinni told CNN that Rumsfeld "should be held responsible for a series of mistakes, beginning with 'throwing away ten years worth of planning, plans that had taken into account what we would face in an occupation of Iraq'."


 * Major General John R.S. Batiste (U.S. Army, Ret.), who commanded the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq in 2004-05, said: "'I believe we need a fresh start at the Pentagon... We need leadership up there that respects the military as they expect the military to respect them.' ... General Batiste’s comments have particular resonance within the Army because he was offered a promotion if he returned to Iraq as second-in-command. He declined and quit the military in November, reportedly because he no longer wished to serve under Mr Rumsfeld."


 * Major General Batiste's Sepember 25, 2006, testimony (print and YouTube video here, here, here and here) before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.


 * Major General Charles H. Swannack, Jr., who led the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq in 2004, accused Rumsfeld of "absolute failures."


 * Swannack said in an April 14, 2006, telephone interview with the New York Times that "the number of forces that went into Iraq was insufficient for the ultimate task and said of Mr. Rumsfeld, 'His arrogance is what will cause us to fail in the future.'"


 * Marine General Paul Van Ripper, who "retired before Rumsfeld took office, but is currently engaged in war games with two branches of the military ... stated that Iraq was 'When I look at where we are in this war today, and imagine where we could have been if the right number of troops had been put in at the right time and been deployed correctly,... It makes me think we need new leadership. ... If I was the president, I would have relieved him three years ago.'"

Swiftboating the Generals

 * Geekesque, "The Swiftboating of the Generals who want Rumsfeld to resign has begun," Daily Kos, April 13, 2006.
 * "Attacking the Generals," Crooks and Liars, April 14, 2006.
 * Amanda Terkel, "Right Wing Swiftboats Generals Who Called on Rumsfeld to Resign," Think Progress, April 17, 2006.
 * "Swiftboating Anthony Zinni," Angry Bear Blogspot, April 18, 2006.
 * "Ouch &mdash; More Swiftboating of the Retired Generals," Angry Bear Blogspot, April 19, 2006.
 * Charles Krauthammer, "The Generals' Dangerous Whispers," Washington Post, April 21, 2006.
 * Nico Pitney, "Right Wing Swiftboating Retired Generals: 'Dangerous,' 'Encouraging the Enemy to Fight On'," Think Progress, April 21, 2006.

Blame the Generals

 * Sally B. Donnelly, "Criticism Mounts of U.S. Generals in Iraq. Top warmakers like Gen. John Abizaid have thus far escaped blame for the failures in Iraq. But that's starting to change," TIME Magazine, October 27, 2006.

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Abu Ghraib
 * Bush administration doomsday line of Pentagon succession
 * Bush administration rationales for war in Iraq
 * Bush doctrine
 * civil war in Iraq
 * Eric Shinseki
 * Exit Strategy from Iraq
 * Guantanamo Camp Xray
 * Is the Iraq mission a failure?
 * Karen Kwiatkowski
 * Loose Cannon Pentagon
 * Operation Iraqi Freedom
 * Pentagon military analyst program
 * post-war Iraq
 * rendition
 * stay the course
 * The Cheney-Rumsfeld Cabal Deception
 * War in Iraq is fueling global terrorism

2006

 * Andrew Sullivan, "Blame Rummy for a war plan that went wrong," Times Online (UK), January 15, 2006.
 * Eli Lake, "Powell Joins List Of Those Who Doubt Rumsfeld," New York Sun, April 11, 2006: "Speaking Saturday to the annual conference of the National School Board Association, Mr. Powell said, 'We made some serious mistakes in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Baghdad,' the Chicago Sun-Times reported. 'We didn't have enough troops on the ground. We didn't impose our will. And as a result, an insurgency got started, and ... it got out of control.'"
 * Thomas E. Ricks, "Rumsfeld Rebuked By Retired Generals. Ex-Iraq Commander Calls for Resignation," Washington Post, April 13, 2006.
 * "Generals question Rumsfeld's leadership," Anderson Cooper Blog 360/CNN, April 14, 2006.
 * David S. Cloud and Eric Schmitt, "More Retired Generals Call for Rumsfeld's Resignation," New York Times (Common Dreams), April 14, 2006.
 * Tom Baldwin, "Rumsfeld under friendly fire for 'flawed leadership paid in blood'," Times Online (UK), April 14, 2006.
 * Sam Knight and Tom Baldwin, "Rumsfeld quit calls mount," Times Online (UK), April 14, 2006.
 * Tom Baldwin, "Rumsfeld critic denies plot," Times Online (UK), April 15, 2006.
 * Andrew J. Bacevich, "Generals versus Rumsfeld," Los Angeles Times, April 15, 2006.
 * Jim Rutenberg and Mark Mazzetti, "Rumsfeld Gets Robust Defense From President," New York Times, April 15, 2006.
 * Michael Rowland, "Retired US military figures call for Rumsfeld's resignation," ABC News (Australia), April 15, 2006.
 * John Denham, "Generals call for Rumsfeld to resign over role in Iraq war," Irish Examiner, April 15, 2006.
 * Jim Lobe, "New military offensive against Rumsfeld," Asia Times, April 15, 2006.
 * Sarah Baxter, "Generals advance on Rumsfeld," Times Online (UK), April 16, 2006.
 * Tim Hames, "Sniped at by generals, wounded by history, it's time Rumsfeld limped off," Times Online (UK), April 17, 2006.
 * Gareth Porter, "General reveals rift with Rumsfeld on insurgents," Asia Times, April 17, 2006.
 * Howard Kurtz, "Four-Star Story," Washington Post, April 18, 2006.
 * Editorial: "The Generals' Revolt," Washington Post, April 18, 2006.
 * Tom Baldwin, "Revenge of the battered generals. The Defence Secretary is fighting for his political life as the military finds its voice," Times Online (UK), April 18, 2006.
 * H.D.S. Greenway, "Pubic Criticism of Rumsfeld Says It All," Boston Globe, April 18, 2006.
 * Martin Sieff, "The anger of the generals," UPI (Monsters and Critics (UK)), April 18, 2006.
 * "Bush: 'I decide' on Rumsfeld," USA Today, April 18, 2006.
 * "Bush: 'I'm the decider' on Rumsfeld. Defense secretary: Changes in military meet resistance," CNN, April 18, 2006.
 * Ehsan Ahrari, "Why Rumsfeld's time is up," Asia Times, April 18, 2006.
 * Opinion: "The war against Rumsfeld," Chicago Tribune, April 19, 2006.
 * Peter Spiegel, "Rumsfeld Links Generals' Flak to Resentment Over Shake-Ups. Refusing to deal directly with criticism of his handling of the Iraq war, he cites long-standing conflicts over efforts to modernize the military," Los Angeles Times, April 19, 2006.
 * Tim Russert, "Civil War at the Pentagon," NewsMax, April 19, 2006.
 * Art Levine, Commentary: "Donald Rumsfeld: Genius or Hero? The Defense Secretary clearly knows something about 'fantasyland'," Mother Jones, April 19, 2006.
 * Clifford D. May, "Bring me the head of Donald Rumsfeld," Scripps Howard News Service, April 19, 2006.
 * "Shinseki vindicated by retired generals' revolt," Star Bulletin (Honolulu, Hawaii), April 19, 2006.
 * Jim Lobe, "Rumsfeld's fall will drag down hawks," Asia Times, April 19, 2006.
 * "Rumsfeld Reforms Spark Generals' Ire," Oxford Analytica (Forbes), April 20, 2006.
 * Matthew Nickerson and Rummana Hussain, "Rice offers defense of Rumsfeld," Chicago Times, April 20, 2006.
 * Bryan Bender, "Bloggers fanning the controversy over Rumsfeld. Pentagon studies proliferation of military Web logs," Boston Globe, April 20, 2006.
 * James L. Clark, Commentary: "Rummy & the Generals," The Post Chronicle, April 20, 2006.
 * Editorial: "Rumsfeld's failure to listen proves costly," USA Today, April 20, 2006.
 * John Yaukey, "ANALYSIS: Rumsfeld ideas slammed. Criticism of Iraq signifies discontent with his leadership," Detroit Free Press, April 21, 2006.
 * Rosa Brooks, Op-Ed: "A 4-star defense of the republic," Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2006.
 * Sidney Blumenthal, "Revolt of the Generals. The denunciation of the administration's handling of Iraq by former US army chiefs is unprecedented," Guardian Unlimited (UK), April 21, 2006.
 * Daniel Schorr, "Generals underline Rumsfeld's folly. The flap over Rumsfeld shows what can happen when ideologues manage a war," Christian Science Monitor, April 21, 2006.
 * Jim Mannion, "Rumsfeld row prompts hard look at Iraq errors," Daily Times (Pakistan), April 21, 2006.
 * "Gerald Ford 'troubled' by former generals' Rumsfeld complaints," Associated Press (The Mercury News), April 21, 2006. re Gerald R. Ford
 * Michael R. Gordon, "Rumsfeld, the 'agent of change' who wouldn't adapt to changes," International Herald Tribune, April 21, 2006.
 * Mark Coultan, "The 'Rumsfeld problem' - circa 1971," The Age (Australia); "Secretary of offence. Donald Rumsfeld has always attracted criticism. Thirty-five years ago it was for his anti-Vietnam views; now it's for his stand on Iraq," Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), April 22, 2006.
 * "Retired chief justice for third circuit says Rumsfeld shows 'disregard' for military law," The Raw Story, April 24, 2006.
 * Greg Mitchell, Interview with Robert Jay Lifton: "The 'General' Uproar: Military Protest and the Press," Editor & Publisher, April 27, 2006. re "current Iraq protest by former U.S. generals, why it's important, and how the media can make sense of it."
 * Thaddeus Hoffmeister, "Scheduling Rumsfeld’s Departure," OpEdNews.com, May 2, 2006.
 * Tony Capaccio, "Rumsfeld v. Brass: How Defense Chief Pushed Light Force in Iraq," Bloomberg News, May 2, 2006.
 * Mackubin Thomas Owens, "Rumsfeld and His Critics. Did the military really have a better understanding of Iraq?" The Weekly Standard, May 3, 2006; FrontPageMag.com, May 4, 2006.
 * James Kitfield, "The Generals' Case," National Journal, May 5, 2006; posted as "Stakes high in battle between Rumsfeld, generals," GovExec.com, May 5, 2006.
 * "VIDEO: Rumsfeld Called Out On Lies About WMD," Think Progress, May 4, 2006.
 * "Rumsfeld heckled over war in Iraq," BBC, May 5, 2006.
 * "Ex-CIA analyst: Rumsfeld 'should have owned up'. 'It's a matter of telling the truth,' man says after Iraq questioning," CNN, May 5, 2006.
 * Peter Spiegel, "Former CIA analyst grills Rumsfeld at Atlanta talk," Los Angeles Times (Seattle Times), May 5, 2006.
 * William M. Arkin, "Rumsfeld Didn't Lie, But He Should Still Go," Washington Post, May 5, 2006.
 * Lawrence Henry, "Rumsfeld and the Generals," The American Spectator, May 5, 2006.
 * Will Dunham, "Rumsfeld heckled over Iraq war 'lies'," The Age (Australia), May 6, 2006.
 * Sidney Blumenthal, "George Bush Sr. asked retired general to replace Rumsfeld. The former president's secret campaign to oust the secretary of defense was rebuffed by President Bush, a source says," Salon, June 8, 2006. Preview or registration required.
 * John Aravosis, "Select video from today's Democratic national security hearing," AMERICAblog, September 25, 2006. All links to YouTube.
 * Dana Milbank, "For Democrats, Welcome Words on Rumsfeld -- if Not the War," Washington Post, September 26, 2006.
 * William Branigin, "Three Retired Officers Demand Rumsfeld's Resignation," Washington Post, September 25, 2006.
 * David Espo, "Retired Generals Say Rumsfeld is Bungling War," Associated Press (Boston Globe), September 26, 2006.
 * John Carey, "Rumsfeld Needs to Go: Retired Generals Tell Congress," OpEdNews, September 26, 2006.
 * David Swanson, "Rep. Woolsey and 15 Other Congress Members Hold Hearing on Iraq," After Downing Street, September 26, 2006.
 * AJ, "Democrats lead on Iraq," AMERICAblog, September 27, 2006.
 * Joe Sudbay, "When Condi knifed Rummy or how the Sec. of State disposed of the Sec. of Defense (and Cheney)," AMERICAblog, November 12, 2006. re Condoleezza Rice
 * "Ex-general at Abu Ghraib says Rumsfeld OK'd abuse," Reuters (The Boston Globe), November 26, 2006.
 * Michael R. Gordon and David S. Cloud, "Rumsfeld Memo Proposed ‘Major Adjustment’ in Iraq," New York Times, December 2, 2006. re stay the course
 * Michael Petrelis, "From DoD: Rummy in Philly, Dec. 1, 2006," Petrelis Files Blogspot, December 2, 2006.
 * "Rumsfeld memo admits Iraq strategy failing," Reuters (CNN), December 3, 2006.
 * "Rumsfeld urged Iraq tactics shift," BBC, December 3, 2006.

2007

 * David E. Sanger, Michael R. Gordon and John F. Burns, "Chaos Overran Iraq Plan in '06, Bush Team Says," New York Times (truthout), January 2, 2007.
 * Michael R. Gordon and Thom Shanker "Bush to name new general to oversee Iraq ," New York Times (Financial Times (UK)), January 4, 2007.
 * Mark Tran, "Bush poised to name new Iraq commander," Guardian Unlimited (UK), January 5, 2007.
 * Jennifer Loven, "Reports: Bush Replacing Top Generals," Associated Press (Guardian Unlimited (UK)), January 5, 2007.