Rumsfeld Resigns
Donald H. Rumsfeld is stepping down as defense secretary and former CIA Director Robert Gates will be nominated to take his place.Rumsfeld’s resignation was the first Bush administration casualty after a midterm congressional election that sent at least 28 House Republicans packing and left the future of the Senate in limbo.
President Bush called Rumsfeld a trusted friend and patriot who had served his country well.
“Now after a series of thoughtful conversations, Secretary Rumsfeld and I agreed that the time had come for new leadership at the Pentagon,” Bush said in an East Room press conference scheduled Tuesday night after election returns showed an incoming Democratic House majority.
I am not sure how I feel about this. I think that Rumsfeld has been unfairly pilloried for failures that either were not his fault, or were not really failures. His success in Afghanistan and the campaign to toppel Saddam was amazing. Obviously in securing Iraq there has been much less success, but I am far from sure that is because Rumsfeld is bad, rather that the job is difficult and tedious.
That being said, no one is irreplacable and certainly the country has indicated that a change is desired. This is a good way for the Bush administration to signal its willingness to listen.
Substanially I don’t know how much of a difference this will make in Iraq policy.
In any event, I certainly hope that Rumsfeld is remembered by history for his remarkable accomplishments.
