Last night, we had a great discussion with three retired generals. The topic was Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and the question on the table was why are so many former generals calling for Rumsfeld to resign?
I don't take sides, but what I find interesting about the
current debate is that for the first time we are hearing from high-level officers who served on the ground in Iraq.
For years now, Rumsfeld and others in this administration -- from President Bush on down -- have said that they take their cues from commanders on the ground. Whenever asked about troop levels and whether there are enough forces on the ground, they've said that if the commanders wanted more, they would have asked for them.
Well now it seems we are hearing from commanders who are saying that's not the way it really worked.
Some supporters of Rumsfeld will say, well, these guys are politicized or they are trying to scapegoat Rumsfeld. And those arguments should be taken into account.
But I thought Major General John Batiste, who commanded the Army's First Infantry Division in Iraq, was compelling last night when he said that for him at least, this isn't about politics. Batiste says he's been a Republican all his life and that his criticism of Rumsfeld is about protecting troops on the ground, about winning the war.
We'll talk with more generals tonight.
